


Tamed Samurai

by tianxia



Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale
Genre: Age Difference, Anal Sex, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-09
Updated: 2018-02-20
Packaged: 2019-02-12 09:53:34
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 17
Words: 58,023
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12956718
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tianxia/pseuds/tianxia
Summary: This work is based off the author Twisted Hilarity's work, Crimson Samurai. When Kagome is sexually assaulted and killed in the modern world, Inuyasha makes it his vigilante mission to protect others from the same fate. He becomes a news sensation, and risks exposing the existence of yokai to the modern world. When finally caught, Sesshomaru steps in to save him, no matter how much he doesn't want to be saved.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Crimson Samurai](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/343839) by Twisted Hilarity. 



> This work is based off the author Twisted Hilarity's work, Crimson Samurai. I love her work, and all credit for the story idea goes to her. She has not updated the story since Sept. 2009 and I recently decided to try and finish it. Please read the first 3 chapters she wrote. This is a direct URL to the first chapter: http://inu.adult-fanfiction.org/story.php?no=600092129&chapter=1. This is a link to her author homepage: http://www.twistedhilarity.com
> 
> I do not own or profit off her story idea, nor do I own or profit off Inuyahsa. 
> 
> This story picks up directly from where her story stopped.

Inuyasha sat on the bed where he'd woken up from exhaustion after being attacked in... various ways. Pieces of the navy kimono he had shredded lay about the room and there was no obvious replacement that he was supposed to wear. He sniffed in derision. They probably wanted him to wear another one of the damn things. He might as well beat them to the punch. Grumbling about the impracticality of kimono as he started opening drawers. 

One whole side of the room was a built-in set of dark wood cabinets, floor to ceiling, with various sized drawers and doors. He vaguely remembered that Sesshomaru had gotten dressed on that side of the room. That must be where the clothes were.

He walked to that side of the room and opened one drawer at random. It was the underwear drawer. Just his luck. It was full of more creamy silk fudoshi cloth, similar to the one he was wearing. He opened the next drawer to the right: briefs. "Ha!" Inuyasha laughed and took one out. Maybe he could take all of them and spread them throughout the house; stick a couple on the roof. He dumped a bunch of them on the floor for later. It figured Sesshomaru had briefs, not boxers. He was never one to keep things loose, including, apparently, his balls. He gave one a per functionary sniff. Lavender. Figured the guy even perfumed his dick. But wait... oh, hell. The front pocket for the dick was extra large. He dropped it on the floor, too, and went on to the next drawer. 

He'd gone through half of the wall of cabinets, finding shirts, ties, even full suits hanging up in a huge compartment with double doors. He had no idea why one person would ever need so many clothes. He was pretty sure none of this was suitable for the stupid meeting and in frustration had thrown clothes on the floor, rooted around in the drawers, and generally made a mess. Then he found a locked drawer. It didn't even have a handle. What the hell did the bastard have a locked drawer for? Oh, well, one way to find out. He balled a fist and drew back his arm to punch through it, when the door to the room opened. Shit! He hadn't heard any footsteps! He whirled around. 

Sesshomaru stepped in. He paused, no doubt surprised at the chaos. It was as if a small hurricane had gone through the room. "I see you've been busy." He said, face revealing no emotion. 

"Keh, I'm just trying to find what sort of pansy-ass clothes you want me to wear so I can get this over and done with." Inuyasha said, dropping the latest article of clothing in his hand. "The sooner the better!" 

"...I see." Sesshomaru said, observing the path of destruction Inuyasha had created. Fully half of the wardrobe was all open drawers, clothes spilling out, things on the floor. "I don't suppose you had anything to do with that shattered vase in the hallway, either?"

Inuyasha sneered. "It's not my fault your clones can't control their poison whips. That had nothing to do with me."

"I see. It broke when they stopped you from escaping." Sesshomaru deducted. Inuyasha carefully didn't reply. He walked over and closed the fudoshi drawer. He looked down to see all the underwear on the floor. "Really, Inuyasha? Were you saving them for yourself? Given what you were wearing, I thought you prefer traditional clothes. I can buy some for you if you prefer them." 

"Shut up!" Inuyasha yelled, his face a bit red. "It's not like I'm going to stick around to wear any more of these ridiculous clothes after this meeting. All I want is my fire rat robes back. I never wear modern clothes anyway, just a baseball hat. Don't forget your promise!"

"I won't. You'll receive your fire rat robes after the council meeting." Sesshomaru said, opening a double-door cabinet on the left. "Here," He held out a white kimono. "This is to go under.."

"Yeah, yeah, I know." Inuyasha said and grabbed it.

"You will not rip this one to shreds or harm it in any way or you will be punished. Do you hear me, Inuyasha?" 

"Yeah, yeah." Inuyasha said as he put it on. Sesshomaru said something about improving his vocabulary and manners, but he ignored it.

There was a knock on the door and Inuyasha jumped. "What the hell? Why can't I hear anyone coming?" 

"The room is sound-proofed so I'm not disturbed at night from noises my family makes. The twins like to play video games loudly and late into the morning." Sesshomaru said. "It also allows hanyous to be as loud as they want in bed without disturbing others." 

Inuyasha choked. Before he could say anything Sesshomaru opened the door. "Hello, Rin, thank you for agreeing to help me." 

Rin? There was no way that little girl who had followed Sesshomaru around could still be alive! She was human! Unless she had somehow turned into a yokai? But usually humans turning into yokai didn't work out well. At least, it didn't work out well for the human. It usually worked out pretty well for the yokai that were invited in; the exception being Naraku. 

"It's an honor to be of assistance to you Lord Sesshomaru." 

Sesshomaru had said something about getting someone to braid his hair. Inuyasha had never braided his hair or anyone else's for that matter. There had been that demon whatshername, Yura? Yura of the hair? She had a serious fetish for hair and used the hair of her victims to make webs and strangle people, and even she hadn't braided any of it. Putting all of your hair into one braid made it easy for someone you were fighting to grab it and use it has a handhold.

He had liked admiring Kagome's hair in the firelight when they camped and he stayed awake on watch. It was so shiny in the red-orange light of the embers. Fuck, he was only going to do this for Kagome's family. He'd put on whatever pretentious shit and prance around the fucking council meeting Sesshomaru was talking about. Hell, he'd have done a lot more fucking embarrassing shit to keep them safe; put on a tutu and balance a ball on his nose while riding one of Shipo's spinning tops. 

He'd do anything to keep them safe. He'd just been unable to keep Kagome safe.

Fucking damn it. His hands shook, so he made fists to hide it.

"Inuyasha?"

"Yeah?" He looked up. A wolf yokai with black hair and blue eyes stood in front of him. She bowed from the waist. Ok, so she definitely wasn't the original Rin. Though by some coincidence, she was wearing an orange kimono.

"I am Rin. I am pleased to make your acquaintance. With your permission, I will braid and fix your hair in a manner appropriate for the council meeting this morning."

Inuyasha looked over her to see Sesshomaru who gave a nod. "Okay, whatever." He said. He thought of asking Sesshomaru what had happened to the original Rin, but thought better of it. She was definitely dead by now and he had already put his foot in his mouth by asking about Sesshomaru's dead wife. 

"If it pleases you, will you please take a seat upon the stool in the bathroom so I may begin?" She asked. 

Inuyasha looked around. "What bathroom?"

Turns out, there was a door set into the wall, between the wardrobe and the bed, that lead to a huge bathroom. The floor was black and teal marble, just like the entry had and there was even a huge tub. Inuyasha thought Shota had mentioned things like that were a type of artificial hot springs. What had he called them? Jacuzzis? Jacuzzas? Some foreign word. 

He sat on a stool in front of a long counter and Rin got to work. Kagome's family, the Higurashi's, had let him use their shower, but it had been quite a while since he had been in a hot spring. Once he got out of here, it might be nice to go to one, lay low for a while and enjoy himself.

"So you can sit quietly and patiently." Sesshomaru said, coming in, something white and purple in his arms. 

Inuyasha eyed him. He couldn't move his head while Rin was working. "How much longer does it take to do a braid?" He demanded.

"It's not just one braid, Inuyasha." Sesshomaru said. "It's a braided style." He put the cloth on the counter and began brushing his teeth, taking care to clean his longer canine incisors as well. Inuyasha stared, remembering what it felt like when they bit him, the lust that poured into him from that bite...

"All done, Inuyasha, sir." Rin said. 

"Sir? I'm not a sir." Inuyasha said.

"As my mate, you're not a lord, but you are a sir." Sesshomaru said, finished brushing his teeth. 

"Fuck you. We fucked and you fucking mated me, but I'm not your mate." Inuyasha said as he stood up, growling.

"That makes no sense. Listen to your own words, Inuyasha. If I mated you, you're my mate." Sesshomaru calmly said as he took Inuyasha's seat and Rin started to comb his hair. "The rest of the clothes you'll be wearing today are right there." He nodded to the pile of silk on the counter.

Inuyasha bit back a growl. He just had to get through the fucking meeting and he'd be free. He lifted up a sleeve of it. "It's purple." 

"Well, the first one was navy, but it's currently all over the floor." 

"Yeah, yeah, fine." Inuyasha said and started putting it on. It was mostly white that faded to lilac and then darker purple on the left shoulder, the sleeves and at the hem. There was a hexagonal pattern with flowers in the kimono, which was only noticeable on the purple parts. The waist sash was yellow with a white rippling wave pattern. 

Inuyasha looked down at himself and then up at Sesshomaru. "Hey, this is somehow familiar." 

Sesshomaru smirked. "Are you done, Rin?"

"Almost, my lord." She replied. 

"Okay." He said. "Inuyasha, I know this is not your strong suit, but I need you to listen to me."

"Keh." Inuyasha said, leaning against the counter.

"This is important, Inuyasha. If you want this over and done with as soon as possible, you will need to be cooperative. You will need to be quiet. And, above all, you will you need to be polite." 

Inuyasha's eye twitched. "I'll be polite if they're reasonable." 

"No, Inuyasha. Your idea of reasonable, last time I checked, was communicating by yelling insults and threats until there was a fight, which you either won or lost. There is a different definition of reasonable here." Sesshomaru said. 

"Well, tell me what the fucking rules are here and I'll still kick ass, and then leave!" Inuyasha yelled.

Sesshomaru just looked at him. "You literally did exactly what I said does not count as reasonable." He looked him up and down. "You are obviously very youthful, Inuyasha, and I have no idea how you managed to retain your youth, but surely you couldn't have lived all these years without learning more restraint?"

Inuyasha crossed his arms. "Heh, just goes to show you what all you don't know dick shit about." 

"Okay, then let me speak in a language you can understand. Rin, please take your leave and inform Ichirou and Jirou to have the car pulled around. We'll be down shortly." 

"Yes, Lord Sesshomaru." Rin inserted a last bobby pin into his hair, gathered her tools off the counter and left. 

Sesshomaru stood up, face expressionless. Inuyasha glared. 

"By agreeing to come with me to the council meeting, you implicitly agreed to do what was necessary to be at the council meeting, like dressing appropriately," Sesshomaru gestured to his clothes, "and now, by behaving appropriately until it's over. After it's over Inuyasha, and we are safely away from everyone, you may yell, curse, insult, threat and fight me however much you like. But, Inuyasha," he stepped closer, "you will behave at this meeting. 

"If these people think you are rude, they will punish you and cut off an arm. And I have never heard of a hanyou growing an arm back. If you act like you're going to attack them, they will collar you and put you in the deepest, darkest part of a dungeon they can find for millennia. And then when they finally let you out, they'll cut off an arm, just so you remember. 

"And I know you'd like to challenge that and fight still, because you never were one to back down from overwhelming odds, I'm telling you these are not odds. You will not win. And, if you do anything that causes chaos or anything, anything at all, that undermines me, I will not give your robes back."

"What? You promised, you bastard!" Inuyasha said, outraged.

"You promised to attend the meeting, which means behaving! If you do not follow through with your promise, I will not follow through with my promise. You will not get your robes back and I will pay a visit to those mortals who have been protecting you!" Sesshomaru said.

They stared at each other, Inuyasha showing a fang and growling low in his throat while Sesshomaru stood over him. Bastard had gotten even taller. 

"Fine." Inuyasha looked away first. "Let's get this over with." 

"Very good, Inuyasha."

"Oh, take a dick and stuff it..." Inuyasha caught himself. "Keh. Fine."


	2. Chapter Two: Let's Kill Him

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Inuyasha is taken to the council meeting and Sesshomaru starts to figure out one of his secrets.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you haven't read Twisted Hilarity's first 3 chapters, it's important for you to know for this chapter that Sesshomaru was married and has two sons, Ichirou and Jirou, who are both businessmen.

Inuyasha didn't know much about cars, but this one looked fancy. It smelled fancy, too. Ichirou, the eldest son, was driving. Jirou, the second son, had shotgun, and Inuyasha was in the back with his brother. Unbeknownst to any of the full yokai, Inuyasha had snuck Tessaiga under his kimono. He was half sitting on the sword and had adopted a ridiculous posture to hide the fact that even in its dormant state, it was so long, it stuck a good foot beyond the seat when he sat down. No one had commented yet. Sesshomaru seemed to have assumed the odd posture was part of his uncouth nature and hadn't complained about him putting a foot on the back of the seat in front of him. 

"Why are you sitting like that?" Fucking Jirou had turned around. 

"What's it to you, you rat-faced bast.." Inuyasha began. Then Sesshomaru cleared his throat. "Hey! We're not at the council meeting yet!" He protested with a growl and a glare. 

"Consider it practice." Sesshomaru said dryly. 

"Because I fucking want to." He said. Sesshomaru aimed a flat look at him. "Fine! Because I want to. There, are you happy now?

"Extremely." 

"Keh. How long is it going to take to get there?" He asked, scratching his head carefully as to not disturb the braids. He had never worn his hair up and it felt weird. But who knew what Sesshomaru would do if a hair was out of place. 

"Half an hour." Said Ichirou. 

"Oh, gods." Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "I'm gonna die before we get there." 

"Why don't you tell us a little about yourself?" Jirou asked. "Consider it a getting-to-know-you and a chance to practice speaking without profanity." 

Inuyasha grumbled and didn't say a thing. 

"Please?" Said Ichirou. "You must be pretty cool if our father choose you as a mate." 

"I'm not his mate!" Inuyasha exclaimed. 

"Okay," said Jirou, drawing out the word. "But you guys are mated." Inuyasha didn't say anything. His ears twitched. "So, you're a hanyou." Jirou persisted. "Who were your parents?"

"Ask another question." Sesshomaru interrupted.

"Okay, um, which one of your parents was a yokai?" Jirou asked. 

Inuyasha was quiet and then thought, what the hell, he didn't have anything else to do. "My father." He said. 

"Ah," said Jirou. "Then your mother must have been kind and beautiful." 

"Yeah, she was." Said Inuyasha.

Since the ball was rolling Jirou wanted to keep it going. "Our mother was beautiful and kind, too. She used to tell us it took kindness to see past what a hard-ass dad is." 

Ichiro laughed. "She'd call him that all the time." 

"Tell us a little about yourself, if that's allowed, father?" Jirou shot a look at Sesshomaru, but it wasn't a look that was subservient. He respected his father and did as he said in this case, but he wasn't happy Sesshomaru was moderating. Inuyasha smirked. If Sesshomaru weren't moderating, he'd use Iron Reaver Soul Stealer as soon as they were out of the city to rip the top off the car and escape. He definitely wouldn't be sitting here and playing nice. "Where did you go to school? What's your hobbies?"

"School? There wasn't school for me." Inuyasha grumbled. The idea of him going to school in the fuedal era, or any era, was laughable.

"You mean you can't read or write?" Jirou exclaimed. 

"No! I can read some!" Inuyasha protested. "I can read 'Nissin ramen' and 'Ichinan ramen.' Kagome taught me that. Besides, what else would be useful to be able to read? You can smell anything important." 

Jirou turned around again and stared at him in disbelief.

"Kagome..." Sesshomaru said, thoughtfully. "That mortal girl that hung out with you, the priestess in the weird clothes..." He looked at Inuyasha sharply. "Those clothes she wore..." Inuyasha glared back. Shit. He was figuring it out. Shit, shit, shit. "She could see into the future?"

"Ha!" Inuyasha laughed. "I guess you could say that." 

"Why would she wear school clothes?" Sesshomaru asked. "She wore those clothes... way back then..." 

Jirou looked between the two of them. "What is this? Mad-Libs, fill-in-the-blank? Because there are too many blanks for this to be a conversation." 

Ichirou commented, "But if this person could see into the future, how and why would she have taught him to read the two ramen names? That's a pretty random thing to teach someone."

"She didn't just teach them, she brought the ramen with her." Inuyasha shot back. I wouldn't have bothered learning how to read the labels if I didn't if they were any good." He said, like he was explaining something simple to a young child. 

"Holy shit!" He yelled, jumping and clawing the door. Sesshomaru had grabbed him about the waist and pulled him over, his mouth hovering over the spot where his mating bite was. "You motherfu..." A hand slapped over his mouth, cutting him off, as Sesshomaru inhaled deeply.

"Mmmph!" Inuyasha protested. Sesshomaru nosed his neck, scenting him deeply, from his jaw line where his lifeblood pulsed, to the back of his neck, and then back again, this time his tongue licking and tasting along the way. There was more muffled yelling and squirming. 

"Ah, are they doing what I think they're doing?" Ichiro asked, eyes on the road.

"I can't say, exactly, because I'm not looking back there again." Jirou responded. 

The scenting and licking continued up to Inuyasha's dog ears. Inuyasha strained to pull out of Sesshomaru's grasp, but he was still weak from the healing and from whatever the hell electric gun he had shot him with at breakfast. When he mouthed at his ear, he nearly shot up out of the seat. Then Sesshomaru let him go. 

"What the hell was that for?" Inuyasha yelled. 

Completely not flustered or embarrassed, Sesshomaru looked at him with his poker face on strong and said, "I was testing a hypothesis. And then I happened to be distracted."

"Distracted?" Inuyasha said, rubbing his now wet ear and wincing. "Distracted? What the hell do you mean distracted? That's just gross."

"Come now, you've been through worse." Sesshomaru said.

"It's not a question of worse." Inuyasha said. The sooner this council meeting thing was over, the sooner he was gone. In fact, he'd leave so quickly after the mosquito -dicked bastard gave him back his clothes, you'd have thought he had left five minutes earlier. He'd be like, what was that guy, the superhero Shota liked so much that went fast? The Flash? He'd be like that guy. And he'd be wearing red, so he'd definitely be like that guy.

"So, tell me, how long has it been since you blasted Naraku to oblivion?" Sesshomaru asked.

"A few years ago. Geeze, what, you forget already? You were there." Inuyasha said, rubbing his ear dry.

"Ah." Said Sesshomaru.

"We're here." Said Ichirou.

"Here" was a large building of traditional Japanese architecture with two yokai waiting out front in the circular drive. This was all good. A western style building wouldn't have nearly as many windows and would be harder to break out of. Only two guards posed no challenge, too, if he had to run away. They felt like low-level yokai, too.

"It's called the Central Edo Country Club." Jirou said as they all got out and Ichiro handed the keys to one of the waiting yokai who bowed and got in the car to go park it out of sight. 

"That makes no sense." Inuyasha said. "Edo is the old name for Tokyo. As a huge city, you can't call anything that's country 'Edo.' And isn't in the east?" 

"Good, you're not totally clueless!" Jirou said. 

"With him, a little knowledge is a dangerous thing." Sesshomaru remarked as the other waiting yokai bowed and opened the door for them. 

Stepping over the threshold, they crossed the barrier and Inuyasha could suddenly feel the powerful yokai energy from the people inside. He froze. This wasn't good. Some of these bastards' energy felt like they could have challenged Naraku and come out on top without breaking a sweat! Not to mention the combined force of all of them. His ass would be toast if they decided to do anything Sesshomaru had threatened that they might do if he misbehaved. 

"Inuyasha?" It was Jirou. "Are you okay?" Sesshomaru and his clones had gotten a few paces ahead before they had realized Inuyasha had stopped.

"How many daiyokai are here?" He asked, his voice higher than normal. 

"Ah, with father, there's five." Jirou said. 

"Fuck." 

Concerned, Jirou asked, "What's the matter?"

"He's beginning to realize how out of his league he is here." Sesshomaru said. "And how much trouble he's in." 

Inuyasha glared. "The only trouble there'll be is if someone tries to mess with me." 

Sesshomaru sighed. "Come now." He took Inuyasha's hand and started walking him. The door behind them closed with a strong thud of heavy wood. "I'll protect you." 

"I don't need your fucking..." Inuyasha started yelling, and then shot his voice down to a whisper at Sesshomaru's glare, tugging on his captured hand. "I don't need your protection." He hissed. 

"Yes, you do." Sesshomaru said. They came to a set of doors where two more low-level yokai were waiting. The yokai bowed respectfully and pulled the doors open. 

It was a large room and at the far end, facing the door was a table with five seats on one side. One seat was empty, but four of them had yokai in them, and these were the daiyokai Inuyasha had felt at the front door. Shit. Their little group paused as the doors closed behind them.

"Lord Sesshomaru! Welcome! Thank you for joining us." The woman who had the center seat at the table spoke. Her long, black hair had some blond streaks and it was pulled back in braids. She seemed shorter and a younger than her compatriots, but she held herself well, like royalty. "And I see you brought the suspect. We thank you for that as well." 

Sesshomaru inclined his body slightly, not enough to be a bow, but enough to be a mark of respect. "Lord Chihiro." He said. Inuyasha felt one of the clones push a little on his back. He didn't like it, but he got the message and bowed a little, too. It went against his instincts to take his eyes off a predator and potential enemy. After the bow, they started walking forward.

"And is this, Sesshomaru, truly the person you caught red-handed? You're sure he's the one who's been killing humans and letting himself be seen?" An old raspy voice asked, coming from an older, fat man with white hair who sat to Chihiro's left.

"Yes, I am sure." Sesshomaru said, coming to a stop about five feet from the table.

"Well, then," Chihiro said, "I don't see any reason to wait. Let's kill him."


	3. Chapter Three: Punishment Decided

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The council decides Inuyasha's punishment.

"We call it executing these days, Lord Chihiro, not killing." Said the woman on the far right of the table. She looked to be around Sesshomaru's age and had teal blue hair and a wise face. 

"Ah, well, let's do that." Chihiro snapped, correcting herself. Everything about her manner and look was sharp.

"I don't doubt that Lord Sesshomaru caught the right person," the wise-looking lady continued in a rolling voice, "but let's find out his story first."

"He nearly exposed our whole world to the humans, Lord Kai." Said the old man, addressing the lady. "He violated the statue of secrecy, not to mention he's a serial killer."

"Well, whom among us hasn't murdered?" Kai mused. Inuyasha had killed his fair share of evil demons and people. Yet he had never killed without strong cause. Hearing Lord Kai say that so nonchalantly, like killing people was as natural and as expected as the tide rising, the hair on the back of his neck stood up. This was not a person to mess with.

"Fine, if you all want to do it the formal way, we'll use parliamentary procedure." Chihiro said. 

"Please, no." Said the man who sat between Chihiro and Kai. "One of the benefits of not opening the trial to the public and making it formal is that we don't have to do that." He sounded like he really didn't want to do that. He placed his hands down so his massive forearms also rested on the table. His hair was a red-orange color and was cut short close to his scalp. He seemed older than Chihiro and younger than Kai and his amber eyes shone steady. "We will do this in three parts. First, we will tell the perpetrator what we know of the misdoings and how the criminal broke the law. Then we will hear how Lord Sesshomaru found him and can prove him to be the criminal. Then we will hear his story - his reasons or his excuses as to why he did what he did." 

"Sounds fair, Lord Sado." Chihiro said. 

"You're forgetting the fourth step, Lord Sado," said the old man, "the execution." 

"Firstly, before we begin," Kai interrupted, her voice rushing to redirect the proceedings, "does the suspect have any witnesses or family members to call forward? Anyone who could speak for him or his character? Or who could offer different testimony?"

"Yes." Chihiro frowned. "He does seem young. Where are his parents?" 

"Hey, I killed those guys, and that's it!" Inuyasha spoke up. "They were all rapists and killers, or, they were about to be if I hadn't stopped them. I don't know what you guys are doing anyway. You're all chicken shit. You're all sitting here on your asses with a bunch of power, and not doing anything when you obviously can. I wouldn't have had to do it if you lazy asses had done something. And you're stupid for wanting to kill me for helping people! But I did it. So say what you gotta say. But I'm not about to bend over or show you my neck." 

It was quiet for a moment. 

"Ha ha!" Sado laughed in a rumbling tone. "Well, we can skip to the third step." 

"So, you acknowledge over the last three years you have trussed up and left ten men for the police to find and have killed at least ten more?" The old man asked. "And, in doing so, you revealed your yokai speed, strength, and were caught on video and photograph multiple times around these crime scenes?"

"Uh," Inuyasha intoned. "I didn't count them. And I never meant to be seen by anyone or be photographed. I always wore a hat to hide my ears." 

"You wore a hat and thought it would fully suffice as a disguise?" Kai said, sounding faintly amused. 

"How do we know all the people you trussed up or killed were rapists?" Sado asked. 

Inuyasha bared his teeth at him. "I had no reason to attack them otherwise." 

"Why did you decide to be the 'Crimson Samuari' as the ningen news calls you? Why did you attack them?" Chihiro cut in. 

"Well, no one else was protecting those women. I decided to do something about it, unlike you rat-bast..." Sesshomaru's nails bit into Inuyasha's hand. "Owch!" He'd been focusing so hard on the council members, he'd forgotten he was holding hands with Sesshomaru still. The bastard had used that to his advantage to remind him told hold his tongue, and he still wouldn't let go.

Kai put an elbow on the table and rubbed at the middle of her forehead. "How old are you, hanyou?"

"Eh, three hundred?" He said.

"Is that a question or an answer?" Sado said. "Try again." 

"Okay, I don't really know." Inuyasha grumbled. "I was kind of under a spell and pined to a tree for fifty years, I don't know if you count that or not."

"You were pinned to a tree for fifty years?" The old man sounded like he didn't believe it. "Where were your parents?"

"They're dead."

"A persecuted orphan." Chihiro said. "If you're trying to weave a sob story, it won't save you."

Inuyasha growled. "I'm trying to answer your questions, you fuck... owch!" He whirled and snarled at Sesshomaru, the claws on his free hand ready to rip him a new one. 

"Calm yourself, Inuyasha." Sesshomaru said. 

"I will, if you stop using your poison claws on me! Shit!" He could feel Sesshomaru's poison in him already, burning his veins. 

"Well, it's no secret hanyou are persecuted, by both sides." Said Sado to the other council members. 

"Is he really a hanyou?" The old man asked, squinting. "It's hard to see. I can definitely tell he's powerful."

"Yes, he is a hanyou." Said Sesshomaru. 

"And if he can withstand your poison claws without screaming, he's tough." Sado commented. 

Kai sighed. "So we have a persecuted hanyou who was orphaned very young, put under an imprisoning spell for fifty years, and who is probably only two hundred years old, going vigilante and calling out the council on what he sees as a social justice issue." She sat back in her chair. "He needs to be punished, of that, there is no doubt." Inuyasha bristled. If they thought he'd let them take one of his arms without a fight, they had another thing coming. He still had Tetsaiga at his waist. "But I cannot condone killing him."

"You mean executing." Chihiro inserted. 

"Yes." Kai said and smiled.

"If this hanyou has no parents to take responsibility and instruct him on how to behave, then I think there is no saving him." The old man said. "We do not have a... what do the ningen call them? Reformation center? He is too much of a risk to set free. He very nearly exposed all of us and our society. Who knows what the humans would have done if they had caught him! And while I think the humans he caught and killed were criminals themselves, he did not have the right to take their lives. He went so far as to kill many people and was so reckless as to almost expose us and there is no one to teach him differently..."

"Actually, Lord Sasuke," Sesshomaru spoke. "He is someone's blooded mate." 

The council was quiet. 

"Someone's blooded mate?" Chihiro repeated. "Then where has his mate been all this time?"

"We only became mates yesterday." Sesshomaru stated. 

It was quiet again. 

Kai was smiling. "Excellent solution, Lord Sesshomaru." She said quietly.

"WHAT?" Sado yelled and paused. "WHAT?" He yelled again. 

"Inuyasha is my blooded mate." Sesshomaru said. 

"You mated a hanyou. And one that is younger than your grandchildren." Sasuke noted, his craggily voice ending the statements like they were questions. "This must be some hanyou." 

"It is not our purpose there to pass judgment on Lord Sesshomaru's choice of a mate." Chihiro said, forestalling any other outbursts. "Know this, however, Lord Sesshomaru. While Lord Kai might think your choice was made out of kindness and Lord Sasuke might think it was made out of lust, I know there is something deeper afoot here, and I will not forget that." Her eyes flashed. She was a quick thinker. "Fellow lords, we digress. Our purpose here is to determine whether this half demon is the culprit, which we have, and to pass judgment on what the punishment should be.

"As he is the blooded mate of a lord, he will not be executed, but will be reprimanded to the lord's care for restraint and education for two hundred years."

"WHAT?" This time it was Inuyasha who yelled. 

"If he steps out of line during this time, Lord Sesshomaru, he will be collared and chained in the most convenient dungeon we can find to serve the rest of the sentence." 

Inuyasha's free hand went to grasp the hidden hilt of the sword. "Why don't you just put me in the dungeon now and be done with it, you pig-faced... Owch!" Sesshomaru had pierced him with his claws again. "Fuck!" And this time, he wasn't letting up. His poison must have changed over the millennia, because the last time they had fought, Sesshomaru's poison was a weapon of immediate and catastrophic destruction. He'd sling some on a group of on-coming soldiers, and both their shields and their faces would melt right off. Now, his poison sang as it zipped through Inuyasha's blood, not melting his bones, which was nice, but lighting up his nerves with pain so severe, he wanted to cut off his own arm and throw it at the council and be done with it. And the pain was spreading. 

"You psychotic bastard!" Inuyasha grasped Sesshomaru's wrist, trying to pull his hand free. 

"No cursing, Inuyasha." He said.

Inuyasha's eyes flashed red. The pain was making his head swim. His fangs grew. "If you think your bitchy ass can restrain me for two hundred years when it took the most powerful priestess who ever existed to tie me down for fifty, you're stupider than a fucking wolf." He spat. The only reason he didn't strike with the Tetsaiga now is that it would take too long to draw it. Given that Sesshomaru already had a grip on him, and two of his clones were behind them, and there were four daiyokai in front of them, he would need to draw his sword faster than lightning if he hoped to have a chance of escape. 

"Yes, that brings us to our next point." Said Chihiro. "You can't be expected to play jailor every second, Lord Sesshomaru. You have other duties, including ones to this council. How do we propose to keep him restrained so he does not escape and run off to play killer vigilante again?" 

"I have irons specially spelled for yokai." Sado offered. 

Kai spoke up. "He's an inu yokai, a dog demon; that doesn't mean we have to tie him up like a common dog. And I while I think being chained to Lord Sesshomaru's bed would be educational, in a sense, it would not help him learn how to behave in society." 

The pain had spread to Inuyasha's whole side, but he managed to yell, "Don't keep talking about me like I'm not here, bastards." 

"I know a way." Sasuke said. Everyone looked toward him. "A great granddaughter of mine loved a mortal and birthed a hanyou who was spiteful and willful, much like the one here. We raised him in our compound, and he loved to cause trouble. As he grew, he started sneaking out and running amok amongst the ningen. So we spelled the gates to keep him in. We did not realize that on the day of the month that he turned human, the spells would not work on him. So one day, he snuck out as a human, got drunk, and turned back into a yokai before the ningen's eyes as dusk fell, because he had drunk too much to get home in time. We found him and offered him a choice: death, or a brand, seared into his skin while he was a human, so that it wouldn't heal as it would if he were branded while a yokai. This brand allowed us to spell the gates to keep him in the compound until he grew out of adolescence and could act accordingly."

The council paused in thoughtful silence. Or, it would have been silent in the room if not for Inuyasha's harsh breathing and continued struggle against Sesshomaru's grip. "Does this brand idea sit well with you, Lord Sesshomaru?" Chihiro asked. 

"I do not like the idea of a mark that is not mine being upon his body." Sesshomaru said slowly. 

"It does not matter which mark you choose." Sasuke reported. "It can be your insignia. Only no one else may have this insignia branded or tattooed upon their body, or the spells will apply to them as well." Sasuke cleared his throat and squinted at them. "Also, the brand will eventually heal and become not as clear, so you should monitor it and rebrand him once every couple of decades or so."

This was too much for Inuyasha. They were talking about taking fire-hot metal to his human skin and locking him away for more years than he was years old! Sesshomaru had never said he was to be punished for killing the fucking rapists. He had only said Inuyasha would be punished by the council if he didn't go to the damned meeting. He never signed up for any of this!

He drew back his arm, intent on striking Sesshomaru with the element of surprise, and jumping away to get distance between him and all these fucktard bastards, then drawing his sword, blasting a Wind Scar at the council, and shredding his kinomo as he went out the door so he could move more freely, facing his path of retreat the whole time, ready to fight any retaliation. 

"Gah!" Inuyasha yelled as Ichirou, who stood behind him, grabbed that wrist that he had drawn back, and twisted. Ichiro kicked the back of his knees for good measure, making his legs give out, forcing him on his knees. 

Inuyasha snapped his jaws, biting at the air in frustration.

"Hm." Sado said, seeing the altercation, Inuyasha's fangs and red eyes. "That is one angry hanyou. Make sure you press the brand deep, Lord Sesshomaru. I do not want to have to come for him." 

"And where do you plan on putting the brand?" Sasuke asked in his gravelly voice. "Might I suggest the tongue? That way you could spell him quiet quite easily. He seems a rude and noisy thing. Or," he said, as if he had been struck by a great idea, "don't ningen neuter dogs? And ningen are like dogs to us. It makes them more compliant. You could brand him near there and see how things go." 

"You overstep your bounds, Lord Sasuke." Sesshomaru said in that quiet, dangerous voice of his. 

"Agreed." Said Chihiro. "This is Lord Sesshomaru's mate, not his concubine." 

"Apologies." Sasuke rasped out.

"If you weren't a leading member, I would require you to brand him in front of us, to make sure it was done and done properly." Chihiro continued. "But in this case, we will respect your privacy, Lord Sesshomaru. Do not make me regret it." 

"But it is important - where do you plan to brand him?" Kai spoke. "If it takes two full yokai to prevent him from grabbing that sword of his under his clothes, you must choose a good spot, one where he could not, in his yokai form, claw off his own skin, let it heal, and be free." 

Sesshomaru stiffened and Inuyasha smirked. 

"That is a good point, Lord Kai." Chihiro said. "It would be extremely painful for the hanyou to do so, though, he does seem to be able to handle a lot of pain." She looked at where Sesshomaru and Ichirou's claws glowed slightly green. 

Sasuke said, "If you did the brand with the correct incantation, the right spell, he would have to blast a hole through his own body to get it off. It wouldn't be just skin-deep. I don't think he would be able to blast a hole in himself, and recover quickly enough to escape and elude capture."

" Lord Sesshomaru," Chihiro asked, "would there be a risk the hanyou would do this?"

Sesshomaru responded, "Yes."

Sado's eyebrows rose up. 

"I have seen him deal with injuries such as that during a fight, and continue to fight, win, and heal on his own." Sesshomaru said. Inuyasha smirked. What Sesshomaru didn't say was that he had caused 'injuries such as that' himself. "However," he announced, "I plan to brand him with the correct incantations on the back of his neck." He turned to Inuyasha. "The only way for him to escape the brand will be to blast a hole in his neck, which would kill himself, and I will make so he will be unable to do so." Inuyasha felt the hair on the back of his neck rise as he looked into the cold eyes of his brother. Fuck. He was so fucked. Fucked literally and figuratively for the next two hundred years.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know Kai is a male Japanese name. I imagine Lord Kai as non-binary, leaning to the effeminate, who decided to keep her name.


	4. Chapter Four: Escaping to the Forest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The best chance to escape is while in transit.

"Inuyasha, you have been growling since we left the council meeting." Sesshomaru complained. 

"You dick-sucking, whore mouth never said I was going there to be punished for killing those rapist pigs! If anything, they should have given me a medal! And you were pumping your poison into me half the time we were there!"  
"That was the only way to keep you from insulting them so badly, that they tried to kill you on the spot." Sesshomaru growled back.   
Inuyasha lifted up his right hand, which was still attached to Sesshomaru's. "Okay, so you can let go, now." He was sitting in the back of the car with Sesshomaru on his right and Ichirou on his left. Jirou was driving. 

"No." Sesshomaru replied. 

"No? Are you kidding me? Our deal is almost done! I played along at the meeting. We just have to go back to your place so you can give me my robes back, and I'll be on my way." 

"Inuyasha, did you not understand anything that happened today?" Sesshomaru asked, sounding pained. 

"Yeah, I went to some pansy ass meeting with a bunch of winning pissy yokai that said I'm not to be caught killing bad guys for two hundred years, or else." Inuyasha shrugged, a habit he had picked up from the Higurashi's. "You said what you had to so they'll think you're keeping me as your mate or whatever, and since I kept my promised pretty well, you're going to keep your promise and give my clothes and let me go. You'll never fucking see or hear from me again, ever. I won't even drop by to say hi after the two hundred years is up, how about that?" 

"I will keep my promise and give you your robes. I will keep my promise and never threaten the ningen who gave you protection. But, no, Inuyasha. I never promised that you would be free. And as my mate you can't just disappear. You have a role to play." Said Sesshomaru. 

"I don't care what type of kinky role-playing shit you're into," Inuyasha said. Jirou made a chocking noise from the front. "I'm not going to be here for it, jackass." 

"Yes, you are." Sesshomaru stated.

"You actually plan on fucking branding me and locking me up?" He yelled. 

"I hadn't planned on the brand, but it makes since." Sesshomaru said.

"Well, then." Inuyasha said, tensing up.

"I still have the stun gun on me. Don't make me use it." Sesshomaru warned.

Inuyasha eyed him. "Stun gun?" Regular guns hadn't been much of a problem for him in the past, but that Uzi the last would-be rapist had used definitely provided problems. If a stun gun was anything like that, he had to prepare himself now to take some pain.

"Yes, the gun with the two wires I shot you with this morning when you tried to leave the house." He explained.

"That shitty thing?" Inuyasha said. "Keh. It just tickled. Besides." He waved his arm about with Sesshomaru still attached. "From when I fought the Hitichin brothers, the thunder and lightning dudes, I'm pretty sure you'd get shocked, too, dumbass." 

"I'd let go of you right before." Sesshomaru said.

"Oh, really, jackass?" Inuyasha asked. Then he attacked. 

He went for Sesshomaru's pretty face. No one likes shit coming at their face. Sesshomaru's reflexes were still excellent and he parried Inuasha's left hand punch to his face with his right hand, knocking the punch to the side and going straight for his throat, lunging forward. 

"Gah!" Inuyasha managed to get out before the hand closed off his windpipe. Sesshomaru's lunge threw him into Ichirou's lap, head against his chest, and, to top it off, Sesshomaru hadn't let go of his right hand. But the attack had served a purpose. With the change of posture, Inuyasha's hand was free to touch Tetsaiga and trigger it to transform from its rusty, dormant state to its fighting form. 

The sheath fell off as the blade lengthened and sharpened, cutting through Inuyasha's kimono. He jerked his hand, pressing down on the hilt, causing the tip of the blade to jerk up, cutting Sesshomaru's thigh, making him rise to his knees to avoid it and put more pressure on Inuyahsa. 

Inuyasha snarled and he brought his left hand up, releasing the sword for now. They were in such close quarters, he wouldn't be able to use it without definitely killing someone. As much as he hated his brother and his clones, he couldn't kill them. They hadn't killed him despite having plenty of opportunity given how he had been passed out. Sesshomaru had even healed him. Plus, they were on a road, surrounded by humans and human buildings, and the whole reason he had gotten into this mess was that he was protecting humans. 

He couldn't scream the name of the attack, given the hand around his neck, but he had dug his claws into his own hand, wetting them with blood, and swung his Iron Reaver Soul Stealer attack at Sesshomaru, aiming up, so anything that didn't hit Sesshomaru wouldn't hit another car. It ripped into Sesshomaru's clothes and skin, leaving bloody gashes in his chest. It ripped furrows into the roof of the car, opening it up to the sky and cracking a window. The hand on his neck loosened and the pin Sesshomaru had on his legs let up some. The car swerved and brakes squealed. 

Since it had worked so well, Inuyasha immediately did it again, reversing the stroke. More blood spattered down and it didn't look like there was any roof left. 

All of this had happened in a couple seconds and Ichirou, while older than Inuyasha, was much less experienced in fighting and hadn't reacted quickly. "Shit!" Ichirou yelled, lap full of struggling hanyou. Inuyasha grinned and would have laughed if he had been able to. It must be a lot for the pampered, pansy-ass princeling to process. He had obviously never been in a real fight. He was counting on Ichirou remaining incompetent. 

"Now, Ichirou!" Sesshomaru yelled over the beating of the wind as is crashed down on them from the open roof. Inuyasha grabbed the Tetsaiga's hilt again and had time to wonder "what the fuck" before Ichirou, in a serpent-like move, slid under Inuyasha and wrapped his legs around his torso while his hands reached into the folds of his kimono, pulling out a cloth wrapped around a bottle. He clenched his hand and the bottle broke, releasing some awful-smelling, noxious liquid that was soaked up by the cloth, which he slapped across Inuyasha's face. 

Inuyasha bucked. Ichiro's left arm locked around his head, his elbow just under Inuyasha's nose, keeping the fabric pressed to him. Inuyasha's eyes watered from the stench. Ichirou's right hand caught Inuyasha's left wrist where he was holding on to Tetsaiga and his claws bit into his arm, immediately releasing a low dose of poison that had Inuyasha trying to gasp for breath, which is when Sesshomaru released his throat. 

Out of reflex, Inuyasha took a deep, gasping breath of whatever was on the cloth, and choked. It smelled like the fucking miasma Naraku used! 

"MMMPHH!" He yelled and bucked. Fuck! He could see freedom! He had ripped the fucking roof off! But between the two, he was pinned from head to foot. Fuck, this wasn't good. He tightened his grip on the Tetsaiga. Even though Ichirou held his wrist, he hadn't pried his hand off the hilt. 

"Don't you dare, Inuyahsa!" Sesshomaru roared. He drove his hand into Inuyasha's side, fingers digging into the muscle and releasing poison, causing him to gasp and breathe in the miasma again. "Let it go!"

"MMPPHRRRAAAGGG!" Inuyasha roared back. The problem with roaring is that it required a lot of air, air which he had to suck back in again, through the cloth.

"Let it go now!" Sesshomaru yelled.

Inuyasha thought that was laughable. He'd fucking chew through the nasty cloth before he fucking... let... go... He felt so weak. 

Fuck! The fucking miasma! 

He tried to shake it off his head, but there was something stopping him. What was stopping him? What was going on? He forgot. He was so tired...

Sesshomaru's hand left his side and joined Ichirou's on his wrist. There were some pokes and prods before Sesshomaru found what he was looking for, and squeezed on some tendons, grinding down hard. 

"Guh!" Inuyasha's breath left him in a rush as his hand spazzumed, releasing the sword, which returned to its dormant state. "Mmph!" He said, shifting his body and jerking his head again, his eyes rolling back as his body demanded more air and he was forced to still breathe through the miasma-covered cloth. 

As if from far away he heard someone ask, "Father, is it safe to release him?"

Inuyasha let his body go completely limp in order to encourage this, and dimly felt Ichirou take the cloth off his face. 

"Jirou." Sesshomaru said. He sounded out of breath. "Call for a healer to come to the house. And Ichirou, pass me your phone so I may call Sado before he heads back south."

"Are you okay, father?" Asked Ichirou. 

"I'll be fine." Sesshomaru said. 

Inuyasha's consciousness waved in and out and he caught snippits of conversation. 

"He looks so peaceful and cute. You'd never know he was capable of this." Said Ichirou. Was the bastard petting his ears?

"Oh, he's capable of a lot more." Sesshomaru said darkly. "If he had successfully freed his sword arm, we would have had to chase him down through half of Japan, leaving a smoking trail in our wake."

"How do you know this, father? How do you know him?" Asked Jirou loudly, fighting the noise of the wind. 

"I knew him when he was a pup." Sesshomaru said. And Inuyasha didn't hear anything more for a while.

The next thing he heard was: "It's taking longer because I'm going half the speed because half the top part of the car is missing!" 

Inuyasha's senses were slightly clearer and he twitched a foot, then a finger, then another finger. He breathed deeply and carefully checked his muscles' response, hoping the clothes would hide the slight tensing and release. 

"I don't fucking believe it."

"Ichirou!" Sesshomaru said. "Language! It's bad enough I have to correct it in Inuyasha."

"Father, he's moving." Ichirou said. Fuck. He had noticed. 

"That should be impossible, even for him. We're almost home." Sesshomaru responded. "He's been 

through the wringer and he hasn't had anything to eat since before he was healed. It should be taking everything he has to heal from the miasma and our poison right now. I was giving him a low dose since the start of the council meeting."

"It seems there's impossible and then there's Inuyasha." Ichirou said dryly. Double fuck. Inuyasha paid attention to torso muscles as he breathed. They were still sluggish. Just a little bit longer... 

It was quiet except for the wind for a while. Inuyasha twitched a finger. 

"Ichirou, hold the cloth over his nose again for a minute." Sesshomaru said. 

It was now or never. Inuyasha put forth the effort, and his body responded. He lunged over and landed on the floor of the car, away from their grabby hands. He coiled his body and gripped the Tessaiga, which had been sheathed and pushed to the floor, and launched himself as hard as he could, leaping out of the car. What did you know? Tearing off the roof had been a good idea. And look at this beautiful forest by the side of the road he could get lost in.

Back in the car, Jirou had pulled over to the side of the road. Sesshomaru opened the car door, and what was left of the window shattered and fell to the pavement with a twinkling sound. He stepped out and closed the door. A few more window shards fell. He turned his head in the direction Inuyasha had leapt off in. 

"Father?" Jirou voiced timidly. "Would you like our assistance?"

"No." Sesshomaru said, voice going deeper and eyes turning red. "He's mine."


	5. Chapter Five: Please

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It was nighttime before Sesshomaru found him.

As much as he hated to leave his fire rat robes behind, there was no way he could go into Sesshomaru's house and find them now. All he could do for now was run. Bonus, the more he ran, the more that miasma stuff got out of his system and the better he felt. 

Fortunately, from having an unfortunate past, Inuyasha was good at running and hiding, washing off and disguising his scent. He took a regular bath in a stream he crossed, and then a dirt bath. 

It was nighttime before Sesshomaru found him.

Inuyasha was resting on a thick pine tree branch, ignoring his stomach growling in hunger, when he felt a jolt in the branch like something had landed on it. He opened his eyes to see red eyes staring back at him, Sesshomaru's face partially shifted into his full demon form - all the better to smell him with.

"Holy shit!" Inuyasha startled and fell out of the tree. Sesshomaru followed and landed on his back, pinning him. The Tetsaiga had fallen a good ten feet away from them.

"I caught you, Inuyasha. And do you know what that means?" Sesshomaru asked, his voice deep and deadly sounding. 

"That you'll fucking get off of me?" Inuyasha retorted as best he could with his face mashed into the earth. 

"Mmm" Sesshomaru said and his weight lifted off Inuyasha's back. 

Shocked, he didn't move for a second. Then, "What the hell?!" He reared up, torso twisting, arm outstretched to stop Sesshomaru, who had wrapped his arms around the top of Inuyasha's thighs and lifted, sitting back in a kneeling position with Inuyasha's ass in his face. He ripped off Inuyasha's fudoshi with his teeth, baring his bottom. He jerked him closer and Inuyasha wind-milled, trying to gain his balance as his body was forced into a jackknife position, ass in the air, his silver hair spilling around him. 

His legs were on either side of Sesshomaru so he couldn't kick him, and his weight was supported by Sesshomaru's arms holding up his thighs. Inuyasha's elbows could touch the ground in front of him, but Sesshomaru was too far back for him to hit. 

Sesshomaru pressed his face against Inuyasha and sniffed, and then licked. 

"HEY!" Inuyasha yelled. "Stop it! What the hell are you doing? I thought you were going to kick my ass, not lick it!" Sesshomaru did it again, this time with a long, wet lick. Inuyasha scrambled at the ground, jerking forward, trying to get away. "No! Don't you dare!" A couple memories came back. The last time he had licked in that general area...

Unbothered, Sesshomaru did it again, slurping sound included. Inuyasha's ears went flat. "Nooo! Stop!" The tongue pressed to him more insistently and there was a little nip, making him buck. "FUCK YOU!" Inuyasha yelled, clawing at the dirt like he could use the ground as a type of ladder to get away. Sesshomaru pressed and wiggled his tongue, humming in contentment as he started licking more often, focusing on the small, furled hole. "You bastard, get off me! Fight me, you jack-k"

Sesshomaru utterly ignored him and laved his hole. "Ohh! Sh-sh-shit! Ahh!" Sesshomaru kept licking his taint, focusing on his hole, with an occasional nip to his ass cheek. He decided to give the taint a break and shifted, bringing Inuyasha's hips higher so he could lick and bite at the curve where butt met thigh. "I'm not your chew toy! Ouch! Fuck you!" There was a rumbling sound and Inuyasha realized Sesshomaru was laughing. "Get off me!" The rumbling smoothed out to more of a purr and he went back to his hole, this time stabbing his tongue inside. "Oh, gods. Nnnnhh..." Inuyasha panted as Sesshomaru licked him open. 

"You're so pretty, Inuyasha." Sesshomaru said.

"Huh?" Inuyasha's head shot up. 

"So pretty and pink," a nip to his hole, "and white, " a nip to his cheek, "and mine." His tongue slipped inside again. He no longer had to stab his tongue in, Inuyasha had loosened. Sesshomaru sucked on the rim. 

"Ahhhh!" Inuyasha yelled in pleasure. "Gah-ah!" Sesshomaru rumbled back a growl in response and kept sucking. "Y-y-you ass fucker..."

"That's the idea." Responded Sesshomaru, withdrawing his tongue long enough to speak, and then going back in and sucking on a different part.

"Nnnooo!" Inuyasha yelled.

"Mmm, Inuyasha, I could do this all night. You should see yourself. Glistening with my spit, open and tender. Did you know you blush down here, too? I can't decide if it's more cute or more beautiful."

"What the hell!?"

"Mmm." Sesshomaru said and went back to it, licking deeply. Inuyasha trembled. "I think I've decided it's just fuckable. And mine."

"It doesn't belong to you, asshole! It's obvioulsy my asshole!" Inuyasha yelled.

Sesshomaru shifted, rising to his knees and then laying on top of Inuyasha, pressing his weight on him as one of his hands left him. There was the sound of shifting silk and then the hand returned and something blunt was against him.

"It is your asshole, but it does belong to me." Sesshomaru said. He moved his hips and his cock pressed along Inuyasha's crack, sliding up and down. Shit. That thing was so thick it didn't fit between his cheeks. But, wait, maybe that was a good thing!

"You're wrong! Get off!"

Sesshomaru's chest pressed against his back firmly and his hands traced down his sides to his ass, where they gripped his cheeks and pulled them apart, allowing the cock to fit between them. Okay, so that hadn't helped after all. The head pressed against the sensitive opening. 

"It's not going to fit!" Inuyasha said. 

"It did before." Sesshomaru said. 

"Woah! No!" Inuyasha wriggled, hands flat on the ground, trying to push up. 

"Relax. You liked it." Sesshomaru said. 

"What? Aaahh-ah!" Sesshomaru pushed in. Inuyasha's wet entrance widened around the tip, the pink rim turning white under the pressure, and then it swallowed the head. "No, no, no!" He yelled. Sesshomaru pushed in deeper. "Fffffuuuuccckkkk!" Inuyasha screamed. It burned. Sesshomaru's hands grasped his hips and then pulled him back on it, forcing his hole to swallow more, the thick length pressing into him. "Aaahhhh!"

Sesshomaru swept Inuyasha's hair to one side and peppered kisses up his back, giving him time to adjust. "That's a good boy." 

"Nnnn!" 

Then Sesshomaru bit into the mating mark, where neck met shoulder, and started pounding, withdrawing his dick some, only to push more inside. 

Inuyasha screamed. Lust poured into him. This was Sesshomaru's lust. This is what he felt for him. Slapping sounds filled the area as Sesshomaru gave him long, deep strokes, bottoming out each time now that he had finally forced Inuyasha's tight body to open, clapping his ass with his pelvis each time. "Ah! Ah!" Inuyasha yelled. His hole still burned, forced so wide. He could feel Sesshomaru's dick all the way up in him. "Gah-ah!" Sesshomaru bit down harder and Inuyasha jerked as Sesshomaru's cock slid and hit that spot in him that made him see stars. Sesshomaru kept going, holding Inuyasha, making him take it like a bitch.

Inuyasha's dick, which had been hard as a rock when Sesshomaru rimmed him, and had softened at the pain of entry, was hardening again. Inuyasha's head fell, forehead touching the ground. He flexed his body. "Aahh." He moaned quieter. "Mm." Inuyasha spread his legs and tilted his ass up, trying to get Sesshomaru to hit that spot more often. "Yes!" Sesshomaru's large, warm hands were still at his hips, controlling their rhythm. 

Finally Inuyasha growled out, "Faster." Sesshomaru kept up the same pace. "Faster, damn you!" There was no change. Inuyasha groaned. Sesshomaru released his bite and nuzzled him. 

"Feels good?" He asked. 

"No! It fucking feels horrible" Inuyasha spat. 

"Hm." Sesshomaru intoned and nuzzled higher till he got to Inuyasha's ear and started sucking on it. 

Inuyasha's eyes widened. He gasped and reached back with a hand to pull at Sesshomaru's hair. "Nuh, no!" Sesshomaru didn't stop. It was all heat and wet and suction, and his ear seemed to have a line straight to his dick. "Stop!"

"Tell me it feels good." Sesshomaru demanded.

"No!"

"Okay." He said, and went right back to sucking on Inuyasha's ear, keeping up the steady pounding pace into his ass. 

"Ugh!" Inuyasha reached back with his other hand, shifting his weight to his knees in order to grab at Sesshomaru's head and force it away. The change, however, meant that gravity was in effect helping Inuyasha to sit on his dick. 

His eyes widened and Sesshomaru growled in approval, one arm coming up to wrap around his torso in a full body hug, and the other to hold his head still so he could freely suck on his ear. 

"Fuck!" Inuyasha yelled. He let go of Sesshomaru's hair and twisted, trying to get back to all fours, flailing, reaching for the ground. Shesshomaru wasn't having it. His struggles to reach the ground made his body jerk up, which set it up perfectly for Sesshomaru to jerk him back down. "F-fine!" He twisted in Sesshomaru's grip, tugging on his hair. "Fine! It feels good! My ear feels good!" He yelled, body arching as his ear throbbed in his mouth and he kept sucking. "Are you happy?" 

Sesshomaru released his ear to say, "Very," before resuming his attentions on it.

"You psychotic bastard! You were supposed to stop!" Inuyasha complained.

"And why, hanyou, would I stop doing something that felt good to my mate?" Sesshomaru asked, licking it and sucking the tip. Inuyasha clenched and shuddered.

"Nuh." He said, trying to think. Sesshomaru hadn't stopped thrusting. That felt good. He clenched again.

"That's it." Sesshomaru said, and moved to the other ear. 

"Oh, fuck." Inuyasha groaned. He tugged on Sesshomaru's hair. "Fuucckkk." His dick stuck straight up. It moved in the air with their thrusts. "Touch me!" 

"I am touching you." Sesshomaru responded and moved down, sucking on his neck.

"Touch me! Touch me there!" Inuyasha yelled.

Sesshomaru chuckled. "Say please."

"Fuck you!" Inuyasha groaned.

"Say please, Inuyasha. Ask nicely for what you want." Sesshomaru said.

"Nuh." Inuyasha untangled his right hand from Sesshomaru's hair and started slipping it down his body. If the fucker wouldn't do it, he'd do it himself!

"No, no, Inuyasha." Sesshomaru caught his hand. His pounding slowed to a slow grind into him, staying deep and making Inuyasha feel all of him, his hips moving in slow circles. It still hurt, the bastard being so deep in him.

"Ugh!" Inuyasha said. Hell, how long was the bastard?! 

"Ask me. Ask me nicely." Sesshomaru said.

"Go to hell!" He retorted.

"You have two choices, Inuyasha. You can ask me nicely now and I'll stroke your pretty little dick for you until you come. Or, you can continue being obdurate and I'll fuck the rudeness out of you until you ask me nicely."

"Nuh?" Inuyasha's brain couldn't process it.

"Second option it is." Sesshomaru said. He leaned back and got up on his knees, pushing Inuyasha to all fours again, and went from zero to sixty quickly, fucking Inuyasha's ass. 

"Gah!" Inuyasha yelled. "Yes!" This was the pace he wanted! However, he quickly found out, this was not the pace he wanted. His cock throbbed and precome drooled from his slit. It slapped his stomach and bobbed with their movements. Sesshomaru's dick would strike his prostate more often than not and he trembled. Each and every time he made any movement to take a hand off the ground, Sesshomaru smacked his ass, causing him to clench down and cry out, making it tighter for Sesshomaru who was rutting into him like he had no intention of stopping until the world ended. "Nuh! Fuck you!"

"You are fucking me, Inuyasha. You're fucking me so well with your sweet little ass." Sesshomaru responded. 

Inuyasha didn't know what to say to that. He just panted. And Sesshomaru kept going.

"You're taking my cock so well, Inuyasha." Sesshomaru said, slowing down a little. At the change in pace, Inuyasha groaned and lowered his shoulders, using his arms as a pillow, leaving his ass up for the taking. 

Sesshomaru enjoyed the view and watched where they were joined. Inuyasha's taught rim clung to him, like it didn't want him to go, as he withdrew until only the head of his dick was left inside, pressing against the rim. Then it flexed and stuttered as it took his cock back in; all the way back in.

Sesshomaru smacked Inuyasha's ass lightly to see the flesh jump and jiggle. He cupped it before smacking it again. 

"Nnnaaaahhh." Inuyasha groaned. Sesshomaru smacked him lightly as he withdrew, making him clench a little, and then again has he withdrew, and again. "Mmm." Sesshomaru stopped smacking but Inuyasha kept clenching slightly on the out strokes. Sesshomaru repeated the smacks on the other side of Inuyasha's ass to see the flesh jump and to encourage the clenching. He kept it up for a long time, especially after Inuyasha started meeting his thrusts, pushing his ass back to take Sesshomaru's cock.

"You feel so good, Inuyasha." Sesshomaru said gently, rubbing his hands all over him, following the smooth contours and lean muscles of his beautiful figure. "So warm and tight. Does it feel good?"

"Mmph." Inuyasha responded. 

"Good boy." Sesshomaru said. "Tell me it feels good." 

"Mm, good." Inuyasha said.

"Do you want me to stroke your cock?" Sesshomaru asked.

"Yes." Inuyasha groaned, drawing the word out. 

Sesshomaru let his hand trail around to Inuyasha's front, stroking his flat abs, caressing him, drawing swirling patterns with his fingers. He kissed his shoulder.

"And what do we say when we ask another person to do something politely?" Sesshomaru asked.

"Fuck you." 

Surprised, Sesshomaru laughed. And here he thought he and finally fucked the hanyou to compliance. "No, try again." He said. 

"Fuck you?"

Sesshomaru kissed his shoulder. "Close." He let his hand bump against Inuyasha's cock. My, he was hard.

"Nnn! Fine! Please!" Inuyasha begged.

"What was that? I couldn't hear you." Sesshomaru said. 

"Please!" Inuyasha yelled and thrust his hips, trying to bump his dick against Sesshomaru's hand. 

"Very good, Inuyasha." Sesshomaru purred. "Again."

"Please! Fuck you, I fucking said please!" Inuyasha protested.

"I know, and you are being very good." Sesshomaru said. "I just want to make sure you realize that you are being so very good." He pulled out to the head of his dick. "Say it again." He growled.

"Please!" Inuyasha said. Sesshomaru thrust in, making him yip. 

"Good! Again!" Sesshomaru demanded and withdrew.

"Please!" Sesshomaru thrust in. Inuyasha yelled and squirmed, impaled. 

"Very good. Again!" He demanded and brought his hand up to lick his palm. 

"Shit! PLEASE!" Inuyasha begged, grinding his ass back, trying to get the cock inside again.

Sesshomaru grabbed Inuyasha's dick with his wet hand as he thrust back inside, and started stripping it in time to his pounding. "FUCK! Nnnaaahhh!" Inuyasha yelled.

"Again!" Demanded Sesshomaru. 

"Please! Inuyasha cried out.

"Again!"

"PLEASE!"

"Very good, Inuyasha." Sesshomaru panted. Oh, hell, Inuyasha continued to clench each time he withdrew. Sesshomaru was definitely training this ass well. He swooped down and bit into the mating mark again. Inuyasha wailed and came. Sesshomaru continued to pound him and stroke him through his orgasm. His moans of pleasure became small yips of pain as Sesshomaru continued fucking him. He cried out, shifted, and bucked, oversensitive. 

"PLEASE!" He finally yelled again, trembling, pressing his ass back, and Sesshomaru came. Sesshomaru held Inuyasha's softening cock gently, as he came down from his high, feeling the weight of it in his hand as he gave shallow thrusts into Inuyasha's hole, teeth still clamped on the mating bite. 

"Mmm." Sesshomaru moaned, satisfied. He wrapped his arms around Inuyasha and maneuvered them so they lay spooning, holding him close. His dick softened and fell out, leaving a pearly trail behind it. Inuyasha's anal muscles clenched and puckered, so used to having something inside. 

After a short rest Sesshomaru stood up, tucked himself away, and picked up Inuyasha princess style, carrying him home. 

"Now that we have 'please' down, next time we'll work on 'thank you.'"


	6. Chapter Six: Held

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Both brothers reveal parts of their pasts.

Inuyasha came out of a deep sleep. His body ached. Everything felt heavy. But worst of all was his bottom. He was aware of a slight aching sensation all the way up his... 

His eyes flew open. Something white and fluffy greeted his vision. Moko-moko was on his chest. Careful not to disturb the pet and let it know he was awake, Inuyasha looked around. He was in Sesshomaru's bedroom again, but Sesshomaru was nowhere in sight. He paused, listening. He was also nowhere within hearing. During his inspection of his surroundings, Inuyasha looked up towards the headboard and saw there was a silver chain leading from the headboard down towards him. He frowned. Neither of his hands were above his head, and if someone had chained him up and given him that much slack in the chain, between the headboard and where his hands rested at his sides, they were crazy.

He felt a slight vibration and looked down. The Moko-moko thing was... purring? That was actually really calming. Inuyasha felt his eyelids droop. Some more rest couldn't hurt. He'd be all the more stronger to kick Sesshomaru's ass and get his clothes and get away.

When he woke again, Sesshomaru was beside him, asleep. A look out the window showed it was nighttime and the moon was in the waning part of its cycle, becoming smaller. Inuyasha stiffened, remembering that Lord Sasuke had said the brand needed to be done when the hanyou was in human form. Inuyasha became human on the night of the full moon, when it was totally dark. No one but the people whom he had considered part of his pack knew that. Sesshomaru definitely didn't know it yet, and Inuyasha wanted to keep it that way. 

He sat up very quietly and very slowly, biting back a groan as his muscles protested. There was the slight shifting sound of the sheets and a couple of very quiet clinks, but nothing else. Moko-moko was at the bottom of the bed, curled into one great, big fluffy pile. He looked around. A chair near the window had, was that...? Yes! It looked like his clothes and the Tessaiga. He glanced at Sesshomaru. He was still asleep. If Inuyasha could move slowly enough, carefully enough...

"Clink." Something sounded. 

Inuyasha's ears twitched. He'd been brought up short. There was some type of pressure around his neck. He lifted his arm to feel what it was, but he couldn't move his arm, either. He looked down and pulled at both wrists. From the way the covers move and the pressure he felt, it seemed they had been tied to his legs. A cuff around each wrist had about three inches of chain that connected to a cuff around each thigh. Well, that was the stupidest thing he had ever heard of. He scratched at the cuff. 

"Yow!" The damn thing shocked him! "Bastard!" Inuyasha cursed. He yanked at the thing. It didn't shock him again, but it didn't budge, either. He grit his teeth and pulled, bicepts straining, legs taught. "Rrraaaahhhh!" 

"What the...?" Something fluffy came into his line of sight. it was Moko-moko, coiling in his lap. He hadn't heard the thing move. One end of the thing, he guessed the head end, threaded through the hole his arm and his side made, went around his back, over his arm on the other side, "What the hell are you doing?" and then it caressed his face. "Mph?" He jerked away from it, trying to bring his arms up, only to become unbalanced and fall on his back. 

"MMmrrrrrgggg!" Thus began a somewhat silent wrestle in which Inuyasha discovered his ankles were also bound together. 

Inuyasha was bent double, with his knees to his ears, trying to reach the part of Moko-moko that was on his face when Sesshomaru spoke up. "What an... interesting sight."

Inuyasha looked over. Sesshomaru was resting his head on one hand, elbow on the bed, lounging, watching him struggle. His long hair flowed like silk or motlen silver. His muscles had grown bigger since Inuyasha had seen him in the feudal age, but they were still lean. The sheet had fallen down to the beginning of his hips, where the top of the "V" of his pelvis showed. 

"How the hell do you stay in shape without yokai trying to kill you?" Inuyasha asked, spitting some fur. "Oh, wait, I forgot," he said darkly, "you were usually the one trying to kill yokai." 

Sesshomaru smiled. "And the occasional hanyou." He agreed, reaching over and sliding a strand of Inuyasha's hair out of his face. 

"And here I thought I was special!" Inuyasha said sarcastically. "Now get this thing off me!" 

"Moko-moko is playing, Inuyasha. It might be trying to get you to be quiet so it can go back to sleep." He said wryly. 

"Uh, huh." Inuyasha said. "I see you have my robes and my sword over there, so you finally came to your senses, huh?" 

"They are there so that you can see I am keeping my promise to you." Sesshomaru said. 

"And letting me go." Inuyasha said.

"No, I am not letting you go. If anyone but me found you out, alone, you would be killed, or captured and jailed for the next two hundred years." Sesshomaru said. 

"Fuck you! You know how hard it is to capture or kill me!" Inuyasha yelled.

"Yes, I do. Which is why you are currently in Lord Sado's restraints especially made for yokai. They are strong enough to restrain you and you should be comfortable enough in them until we can get you branded." Sesshomaru said. 

Inuyasha gaped at him. "LIKE HELL! You're not fucking branding me!"

"I agree it's barbaric, but then again..." Sesshomaru observed Inuyasha who was growling and twisting around. "you're currently a bit of a barbarian." He sighed as Inuyasha started biting the chain that connected his collar to the headboard. 

"Owch!" The thing shocked him. Inuyasha fumed, mouth still on the chain. He gnawed gently. The chain shocked him. "Yow!" 

"Inuyasha, stop it, you are just causing yourself more pain. It will not allow you to chew through it." Sesshomaru said. Inuyasha growled. 

"How long has it been since we defeated Naraku?" Sesshomaru asked. 

Surprised, Inuyasha blinked, stopped chewing on the chain, and looked at him. "Why?" He asked, letting the chain go. "A few years ago." 

"It has been more than five hundred years, Inuyasha." Sesshomaru said. Inuyasha looked startled, then guilty, and said nothing. 

"That priestess of yours, she was from here. She was from this age." Sesshomaru said. "I remember her clothes. Maybe her power and the shikon-no-tama gave her the power to cross time. But how did you cross time, Inuyasha?" He asked. "Did you cross time with her?" 

The gig was up. "Yes." Inuyasha said quietly. 

"How long have you lived in this time?" Sesshomaru asked.

"Eh, over eight years." Inuyasha said. He only knew that because every anniversary of Kagome's death, he'd place flowers on her grave. He had done so eight times now. 

"And have you been spending all this time with her?" Sesshomaru continued. 

"No." Inuyasha looked down, away from meeting Sesshomaru's eyes, and clenched his fists. 

"Then what humans have you been spending your time with?" Sesshomaru asked. "The ones I could smell on you."

"It's none of your business!" Inuyasha yelled. 

"I could go find them." Sesshomaru stated.

"Don't you dare! You said you wouldn't!" Inuyasha said.

"I said I wouldn't harm them or threaten them again in any way, either by my hand or my ordering another," Sesshomaru said. "I could just go see who they are." 

Inuyasha lifted a lip to show off a fang. 

"Tell me who they are, Inuyasha. I won't hurt them." Sesshomaru said. Inuyasha remained quiet, face down in the bed. "Very well," Sesshomaru said. "I'll pay them a visit." He got out of bed.

"No!" Inuyasha yelled. 

"Then tell me." Sesshomaru said, pausing in dressing.

"No!"

"By all the worthless gods," Sesshomaru cursed. He came back to the bed and sat down. "Why not, Inuyasha?" 

"Because they're Kagome's family!" Inuyasha said. 

"Kagome's family? Ah, was that was the priestess's name?" Sesshomaru asked. Inuyasha said nothing. More quietly, Sesshomaru asked, "Why her family and not her?" Inuyasha said nothing. "Is she still here Inuyasha?" 

"She died." Inuyasha said, remaining face down. 

"Ah, I'm sorry, Inuyasha." Sesshomaru reached out and pet his hair. "I know you cared for your little human pack deeply. That must have been painful." He kept petting him. Inuyasha was stiff as a board. "When did she die? How did she die?" 

"Eight years ago, when her rapist killed her." Inuyasha said. 

Sesshomaru's hand stopped. "Oh, Inuyasha." He said. There was more emotion in those two words than Inuyasha knew how to interpret. 

"Woah! What are you doing?" Inuyasha asked. Sesshomaru had crawled onto the bed, all the way over to his side and now was, in effect, scooping him up, scooting closer to the headboard so there was plenty of slack in the chain. He held Inuyasha in his lap, arms wrapped around him gently, but firmly, chin resting on top of his head. Moko-moko slithered down so it was still wrapped around his waist, with the rest of it resting on top of his legs and the bed nearby.

"That's why you've been going and killing those rapists." Sesshomaru said. "You're protecting others because you weren't able to protect her." 

"Shut up!" Inuyasha lashed out, tried to squirm out of Sesshomaru's arms, but, tied up, and with Moko-moko on him, he didn't have much of a chance. 

"Hush, hanyou. Let this Sesshomaru comfort you ." He said. Inuyasha growled. Sesshomaru cut further protests by asking, "Why did you come here to this time with her?"

Inuyasha didn't answer for a minute, then, "The ramen is good."

Sesshomaru laughed. "Come now, she could bring you as much ramen as you liked!"

"Sometimes she'd take too long to come back!" Inuyasha protested. "And sometimes I had to protect her from things! There was one time a classmate of hers tried to hit her with a white ball when they were all in a sand pit, and then there was a bus!" 

"A white ball in a sand pit?" Sesshomaru asked. Then, "Ah, you mean volleyball. You protected her from playing volleyball?"

"It was going to hit her in the face." Inuyasha grouched. "She would get tired and start day dreaming, the idiot!"

"Very well, you protected her from playing volleyball." Sesshomaru said, laughter tinting his voice. 

"And once the Shikon-no-tama was destroyed," Inuyasha trailed off. "It was harder to cross time." 

"And why did you decide to come to her time?" Sesshomaru asked. More quietly he asked, "Was it to protect her?" Inuyasha nodded. Sesshomaru felt it. "Did you ever try going back to the past?"

"One time." Inuyasha said. "But it didn't work. It wouldn't open for me." 

"So you were stuck here, in the modern era, alone." Sesshomaru stated. " So you decided to avenge her." 

"I already avenged her before I tried to go back." Inuyasha said. 

"Of course." Sesshomaru responded.

"But when I couldn't go back, I figured, why not stop it from happening to someone else?" 

"That makes sense, in a way." Sesshomaru said. "So that's what you've been doing for eight years? Tracking and thwarting rapists?"

Inuyasha nodded again. "Most of the time, I left them for the police. But sometimes they had weapons. Usually a knife, rarely a gun." He growled. "Like the last one." 

"Yes," Sesshomaru said. "A gun, especially an automatic one, would make for a nasty surprise. It nearly killed you."

"Keh. I would have healed." Inuyasha said. 

"Not before the humans found you." Sesshomaru pointed out.

"I'd have killed myself if the humans caught me." Inuyasha said. "I planned to rip out my throat when I heard you coming, but I was too weak." Sesshomaru's arms tightened around him a bit. "Shota showed me enough videos of what happens when humans get their hands on something interesting."

"Shota?" Sesshomaru said.

"Kagome's brother." Inuyasha murmured. "He showed me a bunch of movies about humans dissecting stuff - aliens, creatures." 

"Did you like the movies?" Sesshomaru asked.

"Not really. Not those, at least." Inuyasha said. "Humans can be sick creatures, sometimes." 

Sesshomaru "Hmmed" back. 

"But I did like the adventure ones. Ones where the guy had a hat and a whip and found treasure." Inuyasha said. 

"A hat and a whip..." Sesshomaru mused. "A hat and a whip... What type of treasure?" 

"A skull made of shiny crystal and some golden box." Inuyasha replied.

"You like Indiana Jones?" Sesshomaru asked.

"I guess." Inuyasha said. "One of the bad guys' faces melted off and he looked like some type of red-faced yokai. Oh, and I like the ones with that girl and the braid and the tombs." 

"Tomb Raider. Indiana Jones and Tomb Raider." Sesshomaru said. 

"Yeah, that sounds right." Inuyasha said. 

"Did you and Kagome ever see the movies together?" He asked. 

"No..." Inuyasha said. "That was really me and Shota. Kagome liked to get ice cream." He trailed off. "Why are you even asking me? This stuff doesn't matter!"

"Of course it matters, it's important to you." Sesshomaru countered. 

"Yeah, but it's not important to you." Inuyasha said. 

"You're important to me, Inuyasha." Sesshomaru stated. "I didn't do my duty before. I neglected and persecuted you for things that you could not control. I will protect you now."

"Bullshit!" Inuyasha said, squirming again, jerking on his bonds. "No one can protect anyone! Everyone dies anyway!" 

"Then why were you protecting those women?" Sesshomaru asked. 

"Shut up." 

"You did your best to protect her, Inuyasha." Sesshomaru said quietly. "You couldn't have protected her all the time from everything. It wasn't your fault." 

"I should have been there for her." Inuyasha said in a small voice. "The one time she needed me..." 

"I seem to remember you being there and saving her life plenty of times before when she needed you." Sesshomaru said. "And she saved yours, too." 

"Keh." Inuyasha smiled. "She did shoot you with a couple of arrows." 

"She tried to shoot me with quite a few arrows." Sesshomaru said. "I don't remember any of them hitting me." 

"You need to check your memory, old man! She shattered your armor once!" Inuyasha said.

"Yes. She hit my armor. She didn't hit me." Sesshomaru said.

"That's a giant pile of bull yokai crap." Said Inuyasha. "You know, bastard, when we decided to marry, we talked to a crazy lady about having a party afterwards and she went on and on about all sorts of crap that didn't matter. I stopped paying attention, but it was taking so long, I asked them what they needed, so it would be over already.

"Kagome said we needed something that didn't cost a lot but was fancy to put in the center of the tables. I wanted to go back and get your left arm that I had cut off, and maybe some other demon bones, but she said no." 

"You were going to use my severed arm as a table centerpiece at your ningen wedding?" Sesshomaru asked in disbelief. 

"Kagome said no." Inuyasha repeated. "I don't know why." He added, darkly. 

Sesshomaru found himself smiling and forced it back with surprise. This was his arm they were talking about using in such a way, after all. "I doubt you would have found it." He said. 

"I could have sniffed it out." Inuyasha said. 

"So, you were going to marry Kagome?" Sesshomaru asked. 

Inuyasha stiffened, and then shifted in his lap. "Yeah. Even her mom and grandfather and brother said okay." He added. "I was going to wear a hat to hide my ears." 

Sesshomaru sighed. "But she wouldn't have lived as long as you, Inuyasha. In fifty years, she'd have been old, about to die, and you'd still be young." 

"I don't care!" Inuyasha said. 

Sesshomaru stroked his back. "Shh. I know." 

"You don't know shit!" Inuyasha said, and started to struggle once more. 

"I know what it's like to love someone and loose them, Inuyasha." He said. Inuyasha stopped struggling. "My wife, "Sesshomaru started. "My wife was my lover, my best friend.

"She was a beautiful inuyokai from the western mountains. From our clan, actually. Tall with yellow eyes and silver hair. She had markings on her face, too, one blue stripe on each cheek. I first saw her when she was picking flowers with Rin. 

"I had been tracking down and killing Naraku's associates, slowly, and had left Rin and Jaken by the river while I went to do battle. The opponent proved tougher than I thought and it was a couple days before I returned to them. When I did return, Jaken was nowhere to be seen and this inuyokai was with Rin in the floodplain by the river, picking daisies.

"I knew not who she was and drew my sword, ready to tell Rin to run, but when she saw me, she bowed and Rin jumped out in front of her. Rin said the inuyokai had kept her company and saved her from being kidnapped by some wolves. Jaken had run off for some purpose or another and left her alone. 

"I sheathed my sword and told Rin we were leaving. The inuyokai spoke up and asked if there was a reward for keeping the ward of Lord Sesshomaru safe, especially from a full pack of wolf demons. I told her, her reward was that I wasn't killing her. She thanked me and asked me to promise not to kill her or raise my sword against her for a year. Wasn't that a fitting reward, she asked. I had nothing to lose from it, and agreed. She looked up from her bow then and smiled. It was then I saw that she was beautiful. She asked what then was the reward for not going off and telling everyone that the famed stone-hearted Lord Sesshomaru had a heart, and it was in the shape of a vulnerable little ningen girl. 

"My sword has half out of the sheath before I remembered my promise. Her smile grew bigger. I told her that her reward would be that I didn't kill her horribly after a year. She said something about it being too late by then and asked instead to travel with us. She would travel with us for a year, during which I would not strike her or kill her, and after that year, she would leave and tell no one about Rin. Seeing no other way, I allowed it. 

"We traveled for a year, all of us together, tracking down the yokai that had helped Naraku. Her name was Saiyuri. Rin loved her. She helped provide food. Sometimes at camp, when there was no danger nearby, she would sing most beautifully. Even Jaken enjoyed her presence, and Jaken rarely enjoyed anything. A year came and went. And then five. I never found reason to ask her to leave. She complained less than Jaken about the pains of traveling. She was ruthless in battle." Sesshomaru smiled fondly at the memory. "With her there, I didn't worry about Rin's safety.

"One day, Rin found another ningen she liked, a man. He was a woodblock carver from the city, whom she met by a Shinto shrine. He was studying the shrine to make a carving of it for a print. They fell in love and she asked if he could travel with us. I said no. He was a stupid ningen, he wouldn't be able to keep up. His home was in the city, he couldn't hunt or find food in the country. He wouldn't agree to it anyway if he knew his traveling companions were yokai on a murder mission. She said she would hunt for him; she would carry him on her back if necessary; and that he would understand his companions and our mission once she had kidnapped him. I told her to go to the city with him, and not come back. I had planned to drop her off in a village when she was old enough, anyway. She had been old enough for a while, but I hadn't done it. I told Saiyuri to leave as well. Her year was well up. They both refused, so I left instead.

"My mission was almost complete and would have been completed earlier if I had been alone and not slowed down by two less-powerful yokai and a young human. After it was done, I went back to our father's lands, to his castle. As the eldest son, I had inherited the castle and the lands. The yokai that had been steward, taking care of it while I was away, disagreed, saying I had given up my right to it after being gone for so long. I killed him in the public arena and no one else disagreed. He had lost pieces of land as other yokai had risen up against him successfully and succeeded. I made it my new mission to unite the lands again. I called on the yokai still loyal to our family name to fight with me. 

"To my surprise, Saiyuri was among those loyal yokai. Her clan was a part of our father's kingdom, and she was the princess of it. We traveled and fought side-by-side again and I found myself admiring her. It was decades later that I realized I loved her. 

"In one of our many battles, she was struck and killed. I used the Tensusaiga to bring her back to life. But you can only use it once. 

"We married and started a family. We were happy for a millennia. Together, with the daiyokai from the north, south, east, and central, we helped establish the council, as representatives of the west, to govern the yokai in this modern age and prevent humans from finding us. But when the foreigners came to Japan, they brought strange diseases with them. She became sick while pregnant with our fifth child, Jirou, and passed away while giving birth. And I couldn't save her." Sesshomaru said. "I held her and kissed her hand and told her I loved her while she spat out blood, and heaved, and the light went out of her eyes. 

"Then Jirou was born, screaming, and I had to take care of him." Sesshomaru finished. "At first I thought the noise was me screaming. It felt like part of the world had ended. As time went on, it was like the color was gone, or that monk companion of yours had come back and open the black hole in his palm that sucked at my soul whenever I turned a corner." 

Inuyasha swallowed. Yeah, he knew that feeling. 

"I loved Saiyuri. Very much." Sesshomaru said. "And over more time, memories of her stopped hurting me and started becoming gems in my life. I would tell our children about their mother: stories of our battles together, the ballads she would sing. 

"Maybe not today or tomorrow, Inuyasha, but one day your memories of Kagome will be gems in your life, too." 

"You know," Inuyasha said, "the priestess who bound me to that tree, was Kikiyo. I had planned," he paused. "I had planned to become fully human and spend my life with her." He paused again, expecting some type of rebuke from Sesshomaru about choosing to become a weak human. Sesshomaru made no comment, so he continued. "Naraku tricked us. He disguised himself as me and gave her a mortal blow. He stole the Shikon-no-tama, and she came after me. She thought I had betrayed her. She used the last of her strength to hunt me down. She bound me to the tree, and then she died. The spell knocked me out and I didn't know she died. I thought she had betrayed me.

"Kagome was the reincarnation of Kikiyo. She had changed lives and crossed time to return to me, death hadn't stopped her, and together, we beat the demon that had torn us apart. We beat Naraku. We planned to be together. And then..." He stopped. 

No one spoke for a while. Sesshomaru continued to gently rub his arm. Inuyasha found it strangely comforting to be held.


	7. Chapter Seven: Teeth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Inuyasha does a puppy impersonation, destruction included.

"Are you hungry?" Sesshomaru finally asked. 

"I was about to sink my fangs into your chest and see if you tasted good." Inuyasha muttered. 

"While I don't object so some love bites, I do object to actually being eaten." Sesshomaru said. 

"Idiot!" Inuyasha said and squirmed to get out of his arms. This time, Sesshomaru let him go and he fell back into the covers. 

"I'll have food prepared." Sesshomaru said, getting up. "What do you like?"

"Ramen." Said Inuyasha instantly. "Hey, are you going to let me out of this thing?"

"I was thinking finger food." Said Sesshomaru. "Do you like chicken nuggets? Or chicken strips?" 

"You didn't answer my question." Inuyasha growled.

"You didn't answer mine." Sesshomaru responded. 

Inuyasha considered being more difficult, but, damn it, he was hungry! "Yes, with soy sauce." He said. "And that green stuff to drink. Mountain Dew." 

Sesshomaru looked at him sharply. "Do you eat that way all the time?" He asked. 

"Heh, of course." Inuyasha answered. "I eat what I want. It tastes good." He wiggled on the bed. Plus, as soon as the bastard left, he could work on getting out of this stuff. Sesshomaru, or, some other person, but, most likely Sesshomaru, had undressed and cleaned him, and put him back in a fudoshi. At least this one was cotton. It was still a cream color, though.

Sesshomaru watched Inuyasha flex on the bed, all smooth, soft skin over slim muscle, his white hair fanned out around him. The dark leather restraints on his legs contrasted against his pale skin and looked like sin. The chunky silver collar around his neck inscribed with spells glinted in the low lamplight. His hands, bound by his side, clenched and unclenched, held there, helpless, leaving everything open for Sesshomaru's taking as he pleased. The hanyou's abs flexed, standing out in sharp relief. His lip curled in annoyance when he tried to position his legs separately and found he couldn't. Bound tightly at the ankles, his only leg position choices were to spread his knees or not. He choose to spread his knees and Sesshomaru's mouth watered. All that power and determination, wrapped up just for him. 

He eyed Inuyasha's abs again. "You eat trash and still look good. Must be the power of youth." 

Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "Hurry up and go so you can hurry up and come back with food." 

"Of course." Sesshomaru said. "I can't leave my mate hungry."

Inuyasha bared his teeth at him. Sesshomaru smirked and left. 

In the grand kitchen, Sesshomaru picked up the landline phone and ordered McDonald's delivery. 

"Wow, dad, cooking again? Don't work too hard." 

"Yuki." Sesshomaru turned around to see his daughter. The inuyokai looked like her mother. She had a diamond face shape and straight, titanium white hair that fell to her shoulders. There was a smudge of dirt on her cheek and she wore quality clothes that had seen a lot of use. She must have just flown in from, well, from wherever she had been. His middle child was the adventurous one. She grinned, revealing one canine tooth that was longer than the other. "It's good to see you." He held open his arms in invitation. 

She run toward him and he swept her up in a hug. 

"You should visit more." Sesshomaru said.

"You always say that." Yuki laughed. 

"Because it's always true." Sesshomaru said. 

"So, dad, I have to ask," Yuki said, breaking the hug. Sesshomaru prepared himself. "Did you cook enough for me?" 

"I can place another order." Sesshomaru said, poker face still in place. 

"Great! Five cheeseburgers please." She said.

"Oh, to be young in this era." Sesshomaru said. 

"Yeah, yeah, I know. We youngsters don't know what it's like to hunt our own food down and kill it and keep an eye out for other yokai that could be troublesome." Yuki said like she was repeating a lecture from memory. 

Sesshomaru gave her a look as he picked up the phone. 

"So, dad," Yuki said as he hung up the phone. "any major life event happen recently?"

He sighed and joined her in sitting at the kitchen island. "Which of your brothers called you?"

"Jirou. But I would have heard it anyways. The fact that Lord Sesshomaru has a new blooded mate is big news in our small world. So," she said, scooting her stool closer, "tell me about my new step-mom."

"Your new step-dad will not like being referred to as a mom." Sesshomaru said. He didn't say Inuyasha would not like being referred to as any parental figure. 

"Oh, changing teams? Or have you always been bisexual?" She asked. 

He paused. "I haven't thought about it." 

"You know, sexuality is on a spectrum. And it can change over time. So maybe you were ninety percent straight when you were with mom, and it started to change and now you're sixty percent gay." She proposed. 

"I don't know." Sesshomaru said. "I know I loved your mother. And now I care for my mate." 

Yuki cocked her head. "You didn't say you loved him."

"It's complicated." He responded. Yuki was too damn smart. 

Her face clouded with anger. "Did he do anything? Is this a case of political blackmail or something? Did he force you into mating him?"

Sesshomaru winced. "It's kind of the other way around." Yuki was quiet. "I did it to save his life." He said. "He didn't want me to do it, but I knew the council would execute him if I didn't. Your brothers already know this."

"What happened?" She asked. "Can I meet him?"

"Er, not right now." He said. 

"Wait, you don't eat McDonalds." She said. "Neither does Ichirou or Jirou, the health nuts, and you wouldn't be placing the order for anyone else, but... So that means he likes chicken nuggets! Finally! Someone else in this family likes junk food!" She exclaimed, excited. "May I eat with him? Dad, please? I want to meet him."

"No, Yuki. He's in a delicate state right now." Sesshomaru said. "I'm trying to get him acclimated to this life."

The doorbell rang. "I'll get it!" Yuki yelled and ran. She returned with two large bags of what could be questionably defined as food and a large paper cup of what could questionably defined as a beverage. "So." She sat down. "Explain."

"Your new stepfather," Sesshomaru began as she unwrapped a cheeseburger, "had decided to be a vigilante. He went around catching humans who had committed or were about to commit a crime, caught them, and tied them up for the police. Sometimes, however, the suspect fought back and made things more difficult for him. He was seen by the humans several times."

"Oh, so he's like Spiderman." Yuki said.

"I have no idea what that is." Sesshomaru said. 

"He's a comic book hero." Yuki explained. "He's a guy who gets super-human powers and then uses them for good; for catching bad guys and turning them over to the police."

"Hm." Sesshomaru wondered if that's where Inuyasha had gotten the idea. 

"That's so cool. I have a superhero for a stepdad." Yuki said.

"He also killed some of them." Sesshomaru said.

"Oh. Spiderman wasn't a big fan of killing." Yuki said. "Wait, so what's his back story? Does he have tragic origins? Most people don't take the effort and risk trying to help others or changing the world without a very strong personal motive. And it's usually anger or sadness." She added.

He eyed his daughter. She was entirely too perceptive. He didn't know if this was the type of insight that came to her naturally or if it came from her experience traveling the world. Her brothers had multiple high degrees from top colleges, but hell, they would have trouble understanding all of this if it the whole story ever came to light, and Yuki had guessed the gist of the whole story with very little in the way of clues. 

"You'll have to ask him. Eventually." Sesshomaru said. 

"Okay." Yuki agreed. "That's fair. Now keep explaining. He did a vigilante thing, he was seen by some humans."

"Yes. This, of course, violated our mandate of secrecy." He said. 

"Ooh, the plot thickens." Yuki commented.

"We, that is, the council, became aware of his actions because the ningen news channel started reporting on it. They called him the Crimson Samurai."

"That's a pretty cool name." She said.

"Indeed." Sesshomaru said dryly. "For the last three years, we've been trying to catch him. I finally caught him the day before yesterday."

"Is he hot?" She asked.

"Yuki!" 

"No need to be scandalized, dad." She quipped. 

"Our stepfather is indeed good-looking." Ichirou entered the kitchen. "Hello, little sister."

"Brother!" Yuki got up and gave him a hug. 

"That's not fair. They know what he looks like and I can't meet him." She said. 

Ichirou shot a questioning look towards their father. 

"Not right now, no." Sesshomaru said. "Seeing as you're on your third cheeseburger, Yuki, I need to take these to Inuyasha."

She pursed her lips. "That's a boring name. That's like naming a dog, "Dog."Well, assuming he is a dog demon." She looked at her brother for confirmation. He nodded, sticking a cup under the electric kettle. 

Sesshomaru grabbed the bag with the nuggets. "Ichirou, pass me a plate and the soy sauce."

"Light sodium?" Ichirou asked.

"No, regular. I don't want to provoke him to rebel any more than he already is." Sesshomaru said, taking the requested items from his eldest son. 

He left his children to catch up and went up to his bedroom.

He opened it and chaos met his eyes.

The bed had collapsed at three corners. That hadn't lowered the mattress and box spring low enough for Inuyasha, who sat in the middle of a pit of feathers and cloth. He had dug into the mattress. Two lines of teeth marks marked the separation of a narrow section of wood from the rest of the headboard. One of the lines went all the way down to where the mattress fell. The other line was undergoing construction as his mouth was currently on it. 

Inuyasha had given up on getting out of his bonds and decided to take his bonds with him. Much like a dog grabbing the leash out of its master's hand, Inuyasha had tried to separate the part of the headboard where the collar was anchored and take it with him. And he was close to succeeding. 

Sesshomaru stood in the doorway, in shock. He hadn't considered the possibility of the room being sound-proof to work against him like this. Otherwise he would have heard the destruction early on and been able to stop it. He looked at Inuyasha. Inuyasha looked at him. And started chewing faster. 

"Inuyasha!" Sesshomaru roared. He dropped the food and went over to grab him by the back of his neck. He pulled on him, but Inuyasha dug his teeth into the wood. "Let. Go." 

"Ooohhh!" Both Inuyasha and Sesshomaru looked up. Yuki and Ichirou stood in the doorway. "Dad, you didn't get us a stepdad, you got us a puppy!" Yuki exclaimed in delight, clapping her hands. "He still has feathers in his hair!" Inuyasha twitched an ear and dislodged the feather. She sniffed the air. "He's a hanyou! How adorable!"

If his mouth hadn't been full already, Inuyasha would have undoubtedly made a remark. As it was, he gave a spectacular snarl. 

Sesshomaru shook the back of his neck a little. "No."

"Hi." Yuki said. Sesshomaru almost jumped. She had come over to them and was squatting on part of the ruined mattress, addressing Inuyasha. "I'm Yuki. We're going to have fun." She said. Inuyasha glared. "Hey, you should let go of that wood so you can eat the chicken we got for you." She wagged the bag in front him, wafting the smell. "I know you're a badass, but we caught you, and aren't you hungry?" Inuyasha's twisted lip relaxed a bit and he stared at the bag. Yuki smiled. She reached into the bag and got a cardboard carton out. She dropped the bag and opened the carton, taking a nugget out. "Mm, smells good." She said. She bit it in half. "Mm." Inuyasha's eyes narrowed. "I know it's your food, but you can't exactly eat it like that, now can you?" She asked. She ate the other half. Inuyasha watched her as she chewed. She swallowed. She reached for another. 

"Fwwh." Inuyasha said and let go of the headboard with his teeth. Sesshomaru dragged him up and turned him around to face him. 

"You. Are. In. Big. Trouble." Sesshomaru said. 

"Fuck you." Inuyasha said.

"Come on, dad, now, we have to feed him first." Yuki said. "Or do you want to rub his face in it and tell him no?" 

"You're not helping." Sesshomaru said.

"I'm right here!" Inuyasha yelled.

"Really? Who got him to spit out the wood?" She asked.

"I'm pretty sure father would have preferred if he swallowed the wood." Jirou had joined Ichirou at the doorway. 

"Jirou! So good to see you!" Yuki said. 

"OUT!" Sesshomaru yelled. "All of you!" 

Of course Inuyasha interpreted that to mean him as well and moved like he was going simply walk out the door. Sesshomaru's grip on his neck stopped him. Yuki closed the door behind her. 

"You can't keep me here." Inuyasha said. Sesshomaru sighed and sat on the collapsed mattress, dragging Inuyasha so that he was reclining against him between his legs, his back to Sesshomaru's chest. Sesshomaru held a chicken nugget up for him. 

"What is this?" He asked.

"Inuyasha, you can smell what it is." Sesshomaru said. 

"I'll eat it if you untie my hands." He growled.

"No." Said Sesshomaru. 

"Then I'm not going to eat it." Inuyasha said. 

"Inuyasha, we both know I'm not going to let you die from starvation." Sesshomaru leaned forward to whisper in his ear, making the promise of violence more intimate. "If I have to shove this into your stomach by sticking my hand up your ass, I will do it." 

Inuyasha was still. Slowly Sesshomaru brought the nugget to his lips. Inuyasha opened his mouth. Sesshomaru pushed it in, and then for good measure, covered his mouth with his hand so he couldn't spit it out. Inuyasha chewed and swallowed. 

"Good boy." Sesshomaru praised and brought another nugget up. 

Two boxes of nuggets later, Inuyasha had the nerve to ask, "What about the soy sauce?"


	8. Chapter Eight: Deal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They make a deal regarding the time Inuyasha turns human.

They slept like that on the bed. Sesshomaru ordered another mattress set and a metal bed frame to be delivered the next day from his smart phone. 

Inuyasha had found out the hard way that the restraints were actually very effective. He couldn't punch someone like this. He couldn't wield a sword. He couldn't open a door, much less a lock. If he managed to separate his ankles, running would be awkward. It was like his hands were tied behind his back, for all the use he had of them. The leather cuffs were definitely not regular leather. Inuyasha shocked himself so often trying to claw through the leather and the chain between his wrists and his legs, that Sesshomaru stopped him by twinning their fingers together and they held hands all night. 

He woke up to Sesshomaru scenting his neck. 

"Mm." Sesshomaru said. 

"What the hell, you creepy ass fucker!" Inuyasha yelled. 

Sesshomaru groaned. "Please, not so early in the morning, Inuyasha." 

"Go to hell, you perverted dick!" He continued.

Sesshomaru untangled their hands and slapped his left hand over his mouth. Inuyasha safely muted, he checked something on his phone with his right hand. "The bed will be delivered at nine am today, good." He said. "Inuyasha, if you destroy this new mattress, I will chain you up outside. In a few days, if I feel sorry for you, I may put down some straw for you to lay on. Do you understand me? Nod if you understand me."

Inuyasha shook his head instead. 

"Very good." Sesshomaru said, like Inuyasha had done what Sesshomaru wanted. "Now, we might as well address this question and finish destroying the room before the new things come in.

"When is your human period?" He asked. 

Inuyasha didn't answer. 

"Come now, Inuyasha. I'm going to find out sooner or later. I'll reward you if you tell me truthfully. What type of reward would you like?" Sesshomaru asked. Inuyasha glared because Sesshomaru's hand was still over his mouth.

"I could release one of your hands at meal times so you can eat your meals yourself." Sesshomaru mused. "While it was very nice to hand feed you, I think I would be in danger of losing a finger if we did this every time. You do value your independence. Or, I could take you for a walk everyday so you're not chained inside the whole time before the day on which you turn human." He put his phone down and stroked Inuyasha's head, which incited him to thrash, which Sesshomaru ignored. "Or both." 

Oh, how Inuyasha longed to bite off both of his hands. And feed them to him. See how he liked it, the fucker. Hand fed, indeed.

"Or I could suck your cock." Sesshomaru said. Inuyasha stopped thrashing. "That's right. You liked my mouth on you, didn't you?" Inuyasha twitched at the memory. It had felt so good. "I'll tell you a secret, Inuyasha: I liked sucking your cock. 

"I liked having you laid out under me, your dick long and hard, wanting attention. The sounds you made as I sucked you in. You went wild with how much you enjoyed it." He sucked the tip of Inuyasha's ear in his mouth and Inuyasha's breath hitched. "And this time, I would take my time. I would make you feel it. I would suck on your balls, too, play with them a little. I would let you come as many times as you wanted." The hand stroking his head stopped and went down to stroke between his legs where his dick had started to stir in interest. Sesshomaru put pressure against it. 

Sesshomaru sucked hickies on to his neck. "So, tell me which day is your human day, and I'll give you a blow job to remember." He promised. "But, Inuyasha, if you lie to me, then you owe me a blow job. Fair is fair.

"And no matter if you tell me or not," he continued, "I'll have a guard posted to watch you, every day when I am away. They will be a yokai with a good nose, so they will be able to smell it when you change. I don't know if it will be obvious by your looks." 

Inuyasha ground his teeth. Yes, it was fucking obvious when he changed! He lost his ears! He lost his sense of smell, his keener vision, hell, his hair color changed! He became weaker and physically smaller...

Sesshomaru ground his hand against him and Inuyasha felt himself responding. 

"You growl, but your dick grows hard, your hips twitch toward my touch and you shiver. I'm starting to think your growls are more like a cat purring." Sesshomaru said. 

"Mmphnnnrrrr grrrphfffwwggph!" Inuyasha said from behind Sesshomaru's hand. How dare he compare him to a damn cat! 

Sesshomaru chuckled. "Okay, no more cat calling. That was a bit low." He pressed down hard and rubbed in a circular motion. Inuyasha arched. 

"That's it, Inuyasha. Look at you: so strong and pretty. You're going to be a wonderful mate." 

"Gggghhhhh! Nnnnnn-nnn!"

"Yes, you are." 

"Nnnnn-nnnn!" 

Sesshomaru laughed. "It's almost time for breakfast. What would you like? Eggs?" 

Inuyasha looked up at him. He thrust his hips up slightly. Sesshomaru looked at him in surprise and then smiled. The smile transformed his face. Inuyasha was stunned. Sesshomaru looked beautiful. Also, he still wasn't used to seeing him with facial expressions other than the usual three: apathetic, angry, and really pissed-off. 

Happy, Sesshomaru also smelled different. He smelled like a grass field at the end of spring, when the mud was gone, but the smell of the earth was still in the air and flowers were in bloom. It was Inuyasha's favorite time of the seasons and it smelled really good.

Sesshomaru stopped rubbing and traced the outline of his now stiff dick with a finger. 

"Tell me when you become human, without yelling or cursing, and I'll finish you off." Sesshomaru said.

"MMMPH?" Inuyasha struggled. What the hell? 

"Oh, no, no, Inuyasha, I forgot, you don't know about this type of talk." Sesshomaru spoke up, pinning him as he tried to get out of his grip. "By that I'll mean I'll make you come, Inuyasha! I'm not going to kill you."

Inuyasha stopped struggling. He glared. 

"By 'finishing someone off' in bed, it means to make them reach sexual completion, to have them orgasm." Sesshomaru explained. "After all the work I did to save your life, I'm not going to kill you now." Inuyasha still glared. "I apologize, Inuyasha. I did not mean to cause you to worry." He stated. 

"Nnn?" Inuyasha asked. Sesshomaru removed his hand. Inuyasha licked his lips and sat up to look at him better. "Just what do you plan to do with me?" He asked.

"Right now, if you agree to it, you'll tell me when you become human, I'll touch you and make you come, and then I'll go get breakfast." Sesshomaru said, still reclining against the slanted mattress.

"I meant in general, you dick.." Inuyasha said, bristling, and then stopped abruptly at Sesshomaru's look. 

"You already know the answer to that, Inuyasha." Said Sesshomaru. "When do you become human?"

Inuyasha's mind raced. "The full moon." He answered, head down so Sesshomaru wouldn't be able to read the lie on his face.

"Okay, thank you. That means, if you're telling the truth, we have fifteen days." Sesshomaru sighed. He stood up. Inuyasha sulked. His dick was still hard and he couldn't reach it with his own hands. He was so busy sulking, he wasn't prepared when Sesshomaru bent down, tilted his head up by lifting his chin, and kissed him, full on the mouth. 

It took a couple seconds before Inuyasha jerked back, rubbing his lips off on his shoulder. "You mother.."

"I'll be back with breakfast." Sesshomaru said, and left the room, leaving Inuyasha still chained up, sitting in the feather pit. His eyes slid over to the headboard. It hadn't been replaced yet. He looked over at the chair with his robes and his sword. They were still there. Sesshomaru had left the door open, so he'd have to be quiet, but the open door was also an advantage in that he could hear anyone coming. He got back to work.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We meet more of Sesshomaru's family and Inuyasha's next escape attempt is foiled as he gets desperate on the day before the new moon.

In the kitchen, Yuki sat at the island, freshly showered. "You know he ordered a new bed?" She asked, talking to another woman. 

The other female inuyokai was shorter, but had the same natural coloration: white hair and yellow eyes. But she had dyed her hair black and wore brown-colored contacts. She hadn't inherited the blue stripes on her cheeks, but she was the only one of Sesshomaru's female children to inherit the crescent moon on her forehead, which was currently covered with makeup. She was beautiful and petit. "I don't want to know." She said, washing the little plate she had used to hold her breakfast of fruit. 

"You're no fun." Yuki said.

"I'm never any fun, according to you." Said Yuri. 

"You're always too serious. I can get a headache just watching you make tea because you put so much focus into whatever you're doing." Complained Yuki. "I mean, look at you! You're even washing that plate five times!"

"Well, my patients don't object that I focus so intensely when I'm doing an operation." She replied. 

Yuki rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah." There was a small awkward silence with only the clinking of dishes. "So, how do you tell the humans again about your ears?"

"I tell them that in my youth I was a very avid fan of role-playing games." Yuri said. Like her parents and siblings, her ears were pointed. She usually covered them with her hair, but it was impossible that no one would notice them during her career, especially when she had to rush into the operating room for a surgery, and an assistant would be the one to tie her hair back and put on the hair cap. 

"And they buy it?" Yuki asked. 

"Yes. I've been told it makes me more human seeming to my team." Yuri said, a slight smile on her lips at the irony. "It makes me look like I had a playful youth and make mistakes sometimes, like humans do, like a bad tattoo." This was good, because, being a yokai, the tips of her ears would grow back if she cut them off. Unlike the color contacts and the hair dye, there was no easy fix for her ears, though she did her best to hide them. She dried the dish and put it away.

"Humans are stupid." Yuki said.

"Then why have you been traveling among them?" Yuri asked, turning around and leaning against the counter, arms crossed.

"Most of them are stupid." Yuki amended. "Even the stupid ones know how to party." 

Yuri arched an eyebrow. "And how are you supporting yourself? Or are you still living off the family fortune?"

Yuki's face set in an angry line. "I earn money." 

"How?" Yuri demanded.

"I do extreme sports, like ultra marathons and cliff diving, and before you say anything about how it's unfair that I'm competing against humans," she said, raising her voice, "I'll have you know that most demons can't do this stuff, either. And it is hard for me, and I'm always watching myself to make sure it's not obvious that I still have an easier time than the humans. And" she said, her voice louder, cutting off her sister who had made a sound like she was about to say something, "I am aware of the statute of secrecy and I'm not about to blow the cover off the whole yokai world. I won't complete in the Olympics or any other forbidden competition." Finished, she glared, and pushed the eggs on her plate around, stabbing her fork at it. 

Yuri smirked, satisfied with getting a rise out of Yuki without needing to say anything. 

Yuki saw the smirk. "Go to hell." She said. "How's your kids?"

Yuri stopped smirking. "Benjamin and Jane are doing well." She said.

"Oh, my gods, just call him Ben." Yuki groaned, dropping her fork.

"He's my child." Yuri said.

"I think I need a divorce from you due to irreconcilable differences." Yuki said, her head in her hands, elbows on the counter top. "I can't be your sister anymore." 

Sesshomaru walked in the kitchen. "Good morning. How delightful to see my two eldest daughters." He rubbed Yuki's back in greeting as she still had her head down, and kissed Yuri's forehead. "Don't torment your sister too much, Yuri." He said.

"Yes, father." She replied. "I got off early from the night shift at the hospital and decided to come by to meet your new blooded mate." 

"He's not presentable yet." Sesshomaru replied.

"When will he be?" Yuri asked. "I'd like to get home to bed soon."  
"He might be presentable to society in a year." Yuki said, stressing the word "might." 

"What do you mean?" Yuri asked, looking between the two of them.

"She means that my mate is a little wild and not accustomed to the accoutrements of civilization." Sesshomaru said.

"He's a young punk." Yuki noted. 

Sesshomaru sighed. "Yes, I think most will believe I acted upon lust." He said. 

Yuri stood frozen. "L-lust?" She said. "For a punk? Our father?" Her voice went higher. "Our father mated a punk out of lust?"

"No." Sesshomaru said. "But that's what most people will think." 

Yuri gripped the edge of the counter, her knuckles white. "I don't know which would be worse," she said, "if you're kidding, or if you're not kidding." 

"Not kidding." Yuki said in a sing-song voice. 

There was a loud cracking noise and all three yokais' heads immediately pointed in the direction it came from. It was followed shortly thereafter by another cracking noise and a pop. Focused, they heard a jangle and then the sound of metal striking metal, then, "WIND SCAR!" 

"Shit." Sesshomaru said, and ran out of the kitchen. 

The sisters looked at each other. "I told you he's a punk." Said Yuki. 

In the bedroom, Inuyasha had broken the headboard, which is what had caused the cracking sounds. He had reached the Tessusaiga and lined up his swing to break the chain between his ankles and the chain connecting his collar to the broken piece of headboard. With only three inches of chain between his wrist and his leg, there was no way he could have gathered enough strength to strike and break the chains without using the Wind Scar, so use it he did. He had even aimed it so the blast would go towards the back of the house, where the window was, so he could jump out. Unfortunately, there was no way he could safely free his wrists. He didn't dare aim Tessusaiga to cut them so close to his body. He'd probably cut off his arm or his side and he wouldn't be able to recover fast enough to get out. Right now he just needed to be able to run. He stood up and picked up his robes with his teeth. 

"INUYASHA!" Sesshomaru yelled from the hall. Oh, fuck, he was already coming. Inuyasha leapt toward the hole he had made. Freedom! He jumped out of the gash in the wall and landed on the grass of the backyard. He reversed direction and bounded around the house when he heard Sesshomaru yell out, "SIT!"

The collar around his neck brought him face-down into the dirt. Inuyasha spat out his robes and tried to get up, but the collar stuck to the ground. "Oh, fuck no! NO!" He yelled. 

"SIT!" Sesshomaru said from closer by. The collar jerked and Inuyasha's whole body was pressed down so hard he was going to leave an indentation in the ground.

"Nnnnn!" Inuyasha yelled, muffled by his own robes, which had fallen right under his face. His ears twitched as Sesshomaru came to stand right beside him.

"Sit." Sesshomaru growled. 

When Inuyasha's vision had cleared somewhat, he was hanging face-down over Sesshomaru's shoulder. They were in a different bedroom in the house. Sesshomaru dumped him on the bed, face-up, and then sat on his stomach and pulled out his cell phone. He hit a couple buttons, making it light up.

"You bastard." Inuyasha gasped out. The collar's effects were a lot stronger than Kagome's beaded necklace had been. Sure, she'd "sat" him into the ground more than once, but three of her "sits" seemed equal to one of these "sits."

Sesshomaru turned to him, grasped his jaw, pressing on the hinge points, forcing it open, and stuffed part of his robes inside his mouth, gagging him. It wasn't like he could make a lot of noise in the first place, given the beating he'd just taken. Out of stubbornness, he started grinding his teeth, intent on chewing it out. 

Sesshomaru shook his head. Inuyasha had an awesome amount of power and no discipline to go with it. Inuyasha sat there, stubbornly chewing, and didn't realize that his hands were unbound and he could just take it out of his mouth. Or maybe the collar had been that strong. He clearly looked dazed. Sesshomaru felt a pang of guilt. But, how funny was it? He punished the hanyou in order to save him, as appropriate, and he felt a twist in his gut, but centuries ago he had tormented him in their fights. The only pain in his gut then had been shame in his inability, or, as he was coming to realize now, his unwillingness to kill him. 

He made a mental note to only use the collar as a last resort. 

But how many times would he have to use it? Inuyasha hadn't developed fully, mentally, nor physically, yet he was powerful enough to challenge a daiyokai in a fight. He was sure to only become more powerful as he grew up. Sesshomaru paused. This was a worrying thought. He had seem much less powerful yokai do huge damage to the city. The council had to do a lot of work to claim it as a gas explosion, hunt the yokai perpetrator down, and cover it up. 

So far, Inuyasha had done no such damage to any human buildings. He was clearly capable of it. Sesshomaru thought about when Inuyasha used his more damaging attacks, such as the Wind Scar. He had used them only when he knew his attacks wouldn't hurt anyone besides the entity he aimed at. In the car, he had hit Sesshomaru with the Iron Reaver Soul Stealer twice, and both times had been aimed up, at the sky, not sideways where it could have it another car, or down, where it would have torn the road and caused an accident. He had used the Wind Scar on the building wall that faced the backyard, where he knew the blast would be aimed to the trees, not to the front of the house, where there could be people in the rooms or on the street.

The only thing that had probably stopped him from using Wind Scar on Sesshomaru when he first woke up after their love-making was the fact he had no idea where he was. He had no idea if he would hit other people. 

Sesshomaru's brow wrinkled as he thought. Inuyasha had a good heart. A good heart and a lot of power. He also had a hatred of him, and he was more stubborn, dangerous, and uncouth than he had remembered. He had spent his younger years with his human mother at the human court, but had been kicked out when she died in his adolesense. From there, he had grown up on his own, in the dirt, in the forests, with his life at threat constantly. It should be noted that the threat on his life occassionally included crossing paths with Sesshomaru.

It wasn't just that he had no manners. It was that he hated manners. The court where he had grown up and where he was introduced to manners, was the very place that rejected him. And in his travels, manners were probably only used by lord hunting him.

The issue in front of Sesshomaru now was how to instill manners and discipline in someone as powerful, energetic, and young as Inuyasha, who hated them with a stubborn passion stronger and more sure than the ocean tide.

He went back to his phone and held it to his ear. The person on the other end picked up. "Hai, Lord Sesshomaru." Said a breathy female voice.

"Yes, Sakura. There is a family matter that has come up, which requires my complete presence. I need you to clear my schedule of any in-person meeting or activities for the next fifteen days." 

"Hai, Lord Sesshomaru." Sakura said in confirmation. "Will you be able to take calls?"

"Yes, I can do work remotely on the laptop and phone." He said. "The period may be longer or shorter as the situation changes." 

It was going to be shorter, Inuyasha thought, becoming less dazed. He had glanced at the early morning sky during his short run outside and the moon had still been up. His human night was tonight. Maybe he'd get lucky and Sesshomaru would kill him before then. 

"Very good, Lord Sesshomaru." Sakura said, and Sesshomaru hung up.

The day passed with Inuyasha becoming increasingly desperate and Sesshomaru going about business as best he could from his seat on Inuyasha's torso. Inuyasha had expected him to eventually move, but Sesshomaru seemed to have decided the only way to prevent him from escaping was to literally stay on top of him.

Early on, he had Yuki bring him a large rectangle of soft clay mounted on a metal sheet. Together, they had maneuvered his body so that the back of his neck pressed into the clay, leaving a precise indentation. They said something about a mold. "Keep the priestess on standby." Sesshomaru said. "It could be today or twenty seven days from today." Yuki had nodded and left.

When the dawn had fully broke over the horizon, Sesshomaru had paused in his business and looked down at Inuyasha. "Not today then." He said, and went back to business. 

Inuyasha's mind raced. Wait, did Sesshomaru think a hanyou's human change could only take place during the day? Maybe he would finally get lucky and Sesshomaru would leave him locked up for the night, where no one would notice. 

Only Yuki came in and out, bringing news of things like the bed delivery, where they had stored it for now, and the estimates contractors were giving on fixing the hole in the side of the house. She came in around noon with a protein shake for Sesshomaru and a heavy piece of metal in the shape of a rectangle. It had a slight curve to it, so if you put it on the table, it would stand up in a low arch. Sesshomaru wanted a part of it redesigned and Inuyasha lost interest. A couple hours after lunch, Sesshomaru had taken Inuyasha with him to the bathroom. It was great because Inuyasha had to go. It was not great because his attempt to escape resulted in another round of "sit."

Yuki came back a couple more times in the afternoon, speaking a language Inuyasha didn't know. It sounded like the language he sometimes heard on the TV, what had Shota called it? English? It hadn't mattered to him. Sesshomaru looked over that piece of metal again and apparently approved of it.

However, evening was well under way and Sesshomaru hadn't let up. Inuyasha's hopes for being locked up for the night before his change didn't look good. He looked out the high window again. The sky was definitely getting darker.

Hell, he might as well go out fighting. 

"Don't even think about it, Inuyasha." Sesshomaru said. "I can feel your muscles tense up." 

"Go jump off a cliff." Inuyasha said and grunted slightly. Shit. He could feel it start to happen. He breathed out through his nose heavily. The change always felt weird, like slipping and falling in a river. One minute you're all dry and fine, and the next minute, you're underwater. Everything feels different - it's harder to move, your movements are slower, your senses are muffled. He hated it. "Ugh." He fought the change although he knew it was useless. "Urgh." His claws grew shorter and turned into useless fingernails. His hair darkened and his vision blurred. Then his sense of smell went out. That was the worst part. 

"What are you doing now, Inuyasha?" Sesshomaru asked. When he didn't answer, Sesshomaru looked down, and froze. 

Human Inuyasha scowled back. The phone tumbled out of Sesshomaru's fingers and onto the floor. 

"What are you looking at, you bastard?" Inuyasha challenged. Then he socked him in the face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted for this fic to pass the Bechdel Test - when at least two female characters have a conversation about something other than the male characters. So many stories don't pass this basic test, showing how so much of our culture is male-dominated. So even though this is a male homoerotic story, I wanted to have strong, independent female characters as part of it.


	10. Chapter Ten: The Only Way I Can Save You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On Inuyasha's night as a human, more than one of his secrets are revealed.

Becoming human meant he lost some musculature and physically became smaller. Becoming smaller meant he could slip out of the cuffs. However, it also meant he was weak. Even when he was at full strength as a hanyou, back in the feudal era when Sesshomaru wasn't a a fully-grown daiyokai, fighting him off was a challenge. There was no way he was going to succeed as a human against an older and stronger Sesshomaru. He just hit him on principle. And man, did it feel good to smash a fist against his brother; emotionally speaking; physically speaking, it didn't feel that great.

Sesshomaru's head didn't even move from the force of his punch. He just stared at him, with Inuyasha's fist still against his face. Inuyasha winced. His fist hurt. 

Sesshomaru reacted to his wince and came back to life; grasped his wrist, unfurling his fingers and checking them out. "Did you hurt yourself?" He asked.

"The idea was to hurt you!" Inuyasha said. "Get off!"

Sesshomaru looked back at his face. "I didn't realize your eye color would change." He said. With his right hand, he reached out towards his face. Inuyasha angled his head back, away from the hand, making Sesshomaru reach father. The hand still came and pressed gently against him. "You're warmer." Sesshomaru said, sounding surprised. Inuyasha's right hand that he had used for the punch was still held captive, so he grasped Sesshomaru's wrist with the one hand he had left over and tried to pull it away from his face.

Sesshomaru moved his hand back slightly. "I didn't prick you with my claws, did I? Did I press to hard?" He asked, concerned.

Inuyasha's mouth fell open. "What the hell?" He asked, confused. "No! Just get the fuck off of me!" He shook his head and kicked his legs to get his attention to their positioning. "You're still sitting on top of me, in case you haven't noticed!" 

Sesshomaru pulled his head down to meet his eyes, and then turned him side-to-side, checking him out. "I'm sure as soon as I get up, you'll lash out and launch yourself either at me or the door." He said lowly. "I can't be causing you undue physical duress, or you wouldn't be able to yell so much, so, please, stop pretending you're being hurt."

"You can be hurt in ways other than physical, jackass." Inuyasha shot back. "I need my freedom." 

Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed. "You've repeatedly proven you're not capable of handling your freedom responsibly. You can't go around killing ningen, even if they deserve it. We are not their cops or their detectives.

"You can have the responsibility your freedom again, hanyou." Sesshomaru said. "When..."

Inuyasha interrupted. "So what do I gotta do?"

"What?" Sesshomaru asked.

"So what do I have to do to get my freedom?" Inuyasha spat, glaring daggers. "Do we have to do... do that again?" 

Sesshomaru's brow furrowed. "You do not have to go to another council meeting for quite a while, if you don't want to."

"No!" Inuyasha yelled. And then more quietly said, "The other thing. I'll let you do the other to me again, if you'll let me go. Bastard." 

"I don't know what you're talking about." Sesshomaru said. "What other thing? Ahhh." Realization came upon him. "While I would greatly enjoy making love to you, I could not allow you to wander about Japan again as you are." He stood up, and before Inuyasha could make a run for it, he had sat on the bed, back to the headboard, and gathered him in his arms, effectively trapping him with his arms wrapped around his torso, and caging his legs caged with his own. Inuyasha stiffened. "You are safe, Inuyasha. I will not hurt you like this." He said. "I know how you have retained your youth." Inuyasha sneered, lips parting to issue a curse-filled response about his arrogance when Sesshomaru continued, "You've been time traveling." Inuyasha's curses died in his throat and his eyes widened. "You and that miko of yours. She is from this time, is she not?" 

"What?" Inuyasha shifted. "How?"

"Thinking back, I realized those strange clothes she wore are a school uniform in this era. And when I asked you how long ago we had eradicated Naraku, you said it had been only a decade. It's been more than 500 years." Sesshomaru said. Inuyasha was quiet.

"So, what are you going to do about it?" Inuyasha asked.

"I'm going to do my duty." Sesshomaru said. "After 500 years, even I came to regret how I had treated you. It's amazing you survived at all. You're a fighter in spirit and body. I'm sorry I never realized it at the time. What's the matter? You've become stiff again." He queried.

"Yeah, well, hearing the person who was responsible for trying to kill me the most say that... It's just weird." Inuyasha said.

"I take it you associate me with pain and biting words." Sesshomaru said.

"Well, you did like to use your poison whip a lot and beat me up. And there's that one time when you were looking for the old man's grave when you put your hand through my stomach and gouged out my eye. Then you tried to steal what the old man had left for me." 

Sesshomaru was quiet. Inuyasha squinted and looked around the room. Damn it, his eyesight sucked like this. How long had it been since the sunset anyway? He strained his ears, but all he could hear was their breathing and heartbeats, and even that was duller-sounding than it should have been. How the heck did humans go around like this all the time? He shifted in his pinned position, carefully. His right butt cheek had started to fall asleep. But he didn't want Sesshomaru to think he was going to make an escape move and crush him.

"I see." Sesshomaru said after some more silence. "And this is all still fresh to you, too, because it happened a decade ago for you, instead of five centuries. I see now why you've been fighting me so much. Why would you trust someone who did that to you to be your protector?" 

Inuyasha snorted. "I don't need a protector. And I don't trust anyone!"

"Unfortunately by time traveling, you missed a lot, Inuyasha." Sesshomaru admonished. "Yokai, all yokai, have a government and we have laws. You were never taught those laws, or knew about any of it, because you weren't here when they were made. You time skipped past all of it."

"Yeah, what of it." He responded.

"Yokai live with humans now." Sesshomaru said. "And we do so, secretly. We don't want every human to suddenly know about us and the whole world rise up to exterminate us, to kill us all, or try to capture us and use us as slaves." 

"You mean yokai would end up killing all the humans."Inuyasha said.

"The ningen have actually developed formidable weapons. Have you watched the news at all?" He asked.

"Yes, I watch the news." Inuyasha said, defensively. "That's how I find..." He stopped talking.

"That's how you find the rapists to kill." Sesshomaru finished for him.

"Some of them." Inuyasha said. "Others I found when I was just walking around."

"You did patrols?" Sesshomaru said. "Well, I suppose it shouldn't surprise me that you're so militant. But then, you should know about the weapons the humans have invented."

"Yeah, well, I found out about automatic guns." He said, remembering the pain from the freaking mini Uzi.

Sesshomaru smiled at the sound of petulance in his voice. "They also have nuclear bombs. And hydrogen bombs. And napalm. Fighter jets. And don't underestimate the power of communicating at the speed of lighting. They can talk instantly all over the world with their electronic devices. With these weapons, the major governments of the world would be united against us and are as powerful as the most powerful daiyokai. 

"We do have some yokai members in high government positions, but we wouldn't be able to stop all the military strikes. The war between ningen and yokai would destroy the world. And if there were to be a bartered peace, it would be uneasy, most likely with one ruling over the other. 

"The way we have things now, both co-exist, relatively peacefully. All the laws we have are to protect that peace." Sesshomaru explained. "The council is the yokai government in Japan, consisting of five members: west, east, south, north, and central. We mostly rule over our own lands, but cooperate in matters of national emergency, such as when there's a threat to secrecy of all yokai."

"Yeah, yeah, I got it. Capturing and turning in rapist bastards, or killing them and not hiding the body is bad. I should have just killed them all and buried them somewhere." Inuyasha said.

It was quiet for a moment. "Have you ever considered not capturing and killing?" Sesshomaru asked.

"No." Inuyasha said. 

"Why?" Sesshomaru asked. 

"Well, someone has to do it. You all never step in and help even though you can." Inuyasha said accusingly. 

Ignoring the jibe, Sesshomaru said, as if to himself, "you could have stepped in without killing and garnering attention, but subtlety was never your strong suit." Yet he focused his next question. "You were trying to make up for not being there for Kagome, weren't you? Or get a sense of justice."

"She already got justice. I got the guy." Inuyasha said. 

"Did you make sure he suffered?" Sesshomaru asked.

"What?" Inuyasha said, surprised. "I killed him, yeah. And I sliced up the body more than I needed to, but that was after I cut off his head. I didn't torture him." He sniffed in derision. "Though he deserved it." He added.

"Yes, I agree." Sesshomaru said. His heart swelled. After all the violence, the ostracism, the fights for survival, Inuyasha had been through, even facing the cause of his heartbreak, the tormentor and murder of the woman he loved, he hadn't been capable of torturing. He had shown compassion to his worst enemy, though he didn't realize it. The lesson of compassion had taken the great Sesshomaru so very long to learn - he had only truly learned it at Rin's death - came naturally to Inuyasha. How he retained the innocence of compassion and empathy boggled Sesshomaru. Inuyasha was amazing in so many ways.

"Unfortunately, I don't get to serve desire-quenching justice like that very often." Sesshomaru said. "Mostly I have to settle financial and legal disputes of yokai . Human courts would think it very fishy if one party accused the second one of stealing on the basis of a two-hundred year old grudge from when they were young." 

Inuyasha sniffed. "Makes you want to go back to the old days when you could just kill both of them and take their stuff."

"Ha ha ha ha!" Sesshomaru laughed. 

"What?" Inuyasha cried, alarmed, fighting Sesshomaru's grip on him. "What the hell?" Sesshomaru kept laughing. Inuyasha could feel his whole body moving with the force of his mirth. He squirmed, uncomfortable with his moving, laughing cage. And seriously, what the hell. He had never heard him laugh. Heck, he had never seen real emotion other than contempt on Sesshomaru's face until a couple days ago. Well, technically, he wasn't even seeing it now. He looked up, tilting his head back. He mostly saw his chin and the tip of his nose. 

"Very funny." Sesshomaru said, laughter dying down. "I don't remember you having a sense of humor." He chuckled, and looked down fondly, meeting his gaze.

Laughter made Sesshomaru look good. His eyes crinkled at the outside edges, his cheeks lifted, and his lips looked very attractive in a half-moon smile. "I wasn't joking." Inuyasha said darkly, looking down.

"Then that's another part of your education. Now-a-days you can't just kill, even small, annoying yokai. And as a leader, it's a compliment when people come to you with their problems, asking advice."

"Good for you." Inuyasha said, bored with the conversation. He didn't see how this had anything to do with him.

"I mostly work as a real estate laywer." Sesshomaru said, one of his hands starting to rub Inuyasha's arm. "My two sons work at the firm with me, though I admit I work on more of a consulting basis now that the council is becoming more active. Also I used to consider ruling boring, so I had delegated duties, pretty much abandoned the land, and took off sate my desire to fight the strongest in the land. You know that. I roamed around, fighting the strongest yokai I could find.

"As the world evolved, I found that there was a most profitable modern way to fight - in the court of law. Now that I've built my company and the more headstrong part of my life, my youth, is over, I've calmed down and settled in to ruling as I really should have done in the first place."

"Yeah, you're great and powerful at no matter what you do, congratulations." Inuyasha growled. So I should call you..."

Sesshomaru interrupted what was no-doubt going to be an insult. "And you would do well to remember that, hanyou." He tilted Inuyasha's head up to rest against his shoulder and nuzzled him.

"What? Why?" Inuyasha sputtered. 

He correctly interpreted the question to be addressing his action, and not his words."Because I like you." Sesshomaru said, his voice deep. Inuyasha shivered. 

"No, you don't." He protested. 

"I think I know my own mind." Sesshomaru answered back, and released his face.

To try and get the smell off, Inuyasha rubbed his face against Sesshomaru's chest. Sesshomaru rumbled in pleasure and he froze, realizing that it was a stupid idea. He immediately went to rubbing his face on his own shoulder. 

"Inuyasha, as you saw, the council would have executed you." Sesshomaru said.

Still rubbing his face against his shoulder, Inuyasha responded, "Yeah, I got that. They would have tried to kill me. The dingbats wouldn't have known what hit them."

Sesshomaru sighed.

"Seriously!" Inuyasha protested. "They were all lined up! In a line! Like ducks! Keh, it would have been easier than hunting for dinner."

"You still hunt for dinner?" Sesshomaru asked, taken aback. "No, that's not the important thing." He corrected himself. 

"There are these great things called farms and zoos where all the animals are together, sometimes in a pen." Inuyasha said. "Sometimes I feel bad for the zoo animals because they can't even run very far to give a good chase. But that can be a good thing when you're hungry."

"Yes." Sesshomaru said, feeling weak. "I'm not sure if I'm more appalled that you're still hunting for regular meals, or that you're doing it at the zoo." 

"Only sometimes." Inuyasha responded. "They put up wire with thorns on it."

"Barbed wire." Sesshomaru supplied the vocabulary. "Why don't you just get something from the grocery store?"

"I don't have money," Inuyasha said, "and I don't want to steal." 

"You know, you were technically stealing those zoo animals." Sesshomaru said.

"No, I wasn't!" Inuyasha protested. "They weren't in a store and no one else was watching them."

"Oh, my god." Sesshomaru said. "Inuyasha..." He trailed off, unsure of what to say. "Yes, you did steal them." 

"I'm not a thief!" He yelled, angry.

"No, no, no, I don't think you meant it." Sesshomaru mollified him. "You've just never actually been to a zoo, have you?"

"What are you talking about? Of course, I have. I ate one of those things with the really long necks."  
Sesshomaru didn't respond, but Inuyasha felt him shaking. He looked up to see his eyes closed tightly, lips pressed together firmly in a repressed smile. He was laughing silently. 

"No, you bastard! Don't laugh at me!" He yelled.

"Ha, ha!" Sesshomaru finally let it out. Inuyasha felt his cheeks burn in embarrassment. 

"Whatever it is, it's not funny, dickwad." He said. 

For the price of one giraffe, you could probably stock a whole, large grocery store for a month. But Sesshomaru didn't say so. "I'm not laughing at you." He said. Inuyasha made a noise of disbelief. "Well, maybe a little." He admitted and nuzzled the top of Inuyasha's head.

"However, I digress. I'm sorry to say, but, one way or another, despite your excellent fighting skills, you would have eventually been killed. All the yokai loyal to the daiyokai council members would have hunted you down and not even you can go against all the yokai in Japan."

"Keh." Inuyasha said, but he didn't say anything else. He wasn't going to admit that it was true.

"The only reason they didn't, was the fact we are blooded mates." Sesshomaru said.

"We're not mates." Inuyasha growled. 

"Like it or not, Inuyasha, we are effectively married. We are mates. No," he cut off Inuyasha, "it was not 'just fucking.' We are legally married. It was the only way I could save your life." 

"If you hadn't taken me to the council, my life wouldn't have been in danger." Inuyasha shot back.

"Well, one of these days, one of the giraffes could have bitten you in a dangerous spot." Sesshomaru said. 

"Shut the fuck up."

"But, in all seriousness, you were going to be caught, Inuyasha, if not by me at that time, then by someone else. You would have definitely been caught by the humans if I hadn't found you first. And what then? What would the humans have done to you?" Sesshomaru pointed out.

Inuyasha said nothing, thinking of the movies Shota had shown him of humans dissecting aliens and animals in science experiments.

"You were getting more and more attention on the news. You were either going to be a human experiment or you were going to be taken before the council. There were only two options." Sesshomaru stated. 

Inuyasha could see the truth in what he was saying, although he didn't like it.

"Look at it practically." Sesshomaru said. "This way, you're not killed. And you won't go hungry. All your meals will be provided. You'll have a house to live in; a bed to sleep in. And you will learn about our laws, about society. You'll go to the zoo just to see the animals, not eat them." 

"Why would anyone just go look at food and not eat it?" Inuyasha asked. "That's stupid." 

"Yes, well, humans do stupid things sometimes." Sesshomaru said with a smile.

"You're forgetting one thing." Inuyasha said. 

"What?" Sesshomaru asked. 

"My FREEDOM!" Inuyasha yelled and threw himself against Sesshomaru's arms, trying to escape. 

Sesshomaru let out a breath heavily through his nose and tightened his arms, hugging him to his chest.

"Your life and your freedom were forfeit the first time the news named you the Crimson Samurai!" Sesshomaru yelled at him. "I saved you!" 

"You just fucked me!" Inuyasha yelled back.

"I could have fucked you, not marked you, and took you to the council meeting and to your death." Sesshomaru said, deadly serious. "I did not have to save you, Inuyasha."

"Yeah, so why did you?" Inuyasha challenged. "You just want an easy and convenient hole to fuck when you get home from work?"

"'Easy' and 'convenient' do not describe you in any way! I'm doing my duty to save your life because I didn't in the feudal era! Just as you tried to make up for not being there for Kagome, I'm trying to make up for not being there for you!"

Inuyasha stopped struggling, shocked. "That's, that's impossible." He said.

There was simply the sound of both of them breathing for a minute.

"I was not there for you in the feudal era. And when I was actually there, I often made life worse for you. I thought you had died after the final battle with Naraku. And I have had centuries, Inuyasha, centuries, to look back upon that time and regret it. I did not act as I should have." Sesshomaru said clearly. "Now I want to make up for it. I want to save your life and make life better for you."

They were both quiet. 

"You're crazy." Inuyasha finally said. 

"I'm saving you in the only way I can." Sesshomaru said. "Do you understand now?" Inuyasha glared at where Sesshomaru's legs trapped his down. "Do you? Inuyasha?" He tilted his face up so he could read his expression. Inuyasha met his eyes and then looked away, not saying anything.

Sesshomaru let it go. He picked up his phone, careful to not let Inuyasha go, and started tapping on it. Inuyasha rolled his eyes. Almost all the ningen were always on their phones. He saw plenty of them walk into poles on the sidewalk because they were looking at the small, flat boxes. It distracted them from what they were doing constantly. There was no way people could have been addicted to their phones back in the feudal era and survived. He didn't see the appeal of the things. 

A long time later, "What's the first thing you would like to learn?" Sesshomaru asked, out of the blue.

"Learn what?" He asked, confused. Despite himself, he had relaxed in Sesshomaru's arms and gotten sleepy.

"That's what I'm asking. What would you like to learn?" Sesshomaru repeated.

"Oh." Inuyasha crinkled his nose in thought. "How to unarm a gunman faster." 

"Modern self-defense." Sesshomaru nodded.

"It's not self-defense!" Inuyasha protested. "It's... it's not getting shot. Shut up."

"I'll arrange for an instructor to come teach you." Sesshomaru continued. Then, more quietly, he said,   
"I'll tell the instructor run you through the paces till you're out of energy." 

"I'm not staying." Inuyasha reminded him. 

That's when someone knocked on the door.


	11. Chapter Eleven:Be-spelled

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Inuyasha is branded and be-spelled, but he doesn't go down without a fight. Sesshomaru shows how he's starting to fall under a spell, himself.

"Enter." Sesshomaru said. 

The door opened and Yuki stood in the doorway, dark circles under her eyes. "The miko is here and we're heating up the fire." She said. Inuyasha's eyes widened in panic. Shit. "I have what you asked for." She said and came forward. "Do you want me to help you put it on?" 

"Yes, thank you." Sesshomaru said.

Sesshomaru stood up quickly and had Inuyasha rearranged in his arms in a bear hug in seconds. 

"Shh." Said Sesshomaru to Inuyasha fighting in his arms. "You're safe." 

"I don't need to be safe!" Inuyasha yelled, very awake now, kicking into the air with a mighty effort and trying to lunge away. He only succeeded in making both of them sway a little bit.

He bounced Inuyasha a couple times in his arms much to Inuyasha's indignation. "He weighs less than I thought he would." 

"We're not doing a general anesthetic, just a strong local anesthetic." She responded. Something slim circled his neck and then pulled taught. Forced to face Sesshomaru's chest, Inuyasha couldn't see what it was. There was a click sound and then the slim thing around him was tugged down, like a weight had been attached to it.

"That may have to change." Sesshomaru said dryly. "Get a tranquillizer set and conscript a couple tasers just in case." 

"Yes, father." She said. Inuyasha wasn't sure what a 'tranquillizer set' was, but if it was anything like a taser, it couldn't be good.

And then, to his surprise, Sesshomaru let him go. He fell to the floor, getting his hands and knees under him to catch himself just in time. There was a slim, red leather strip leading up from him to Sesshomaru's hand. Inuyasha's left hand flew to his neck. A collar. Yuki had put a red leash and collar on him.

"Don't bother to attack me, Inuyasha." Sesshomaru's voice jolted him out of his haze of rage. "You know it won't work." He tied the end of the leash to the bed post and Inuyasha dearly wished for his fangs and claws back. He assumed the collar and leash were spelled to "sit" him if he tried anything.

"Here." Sesshomaru lay a white under robe and a black over robe on the bed."Get dressed. Unless you'd like to continue going around in your underwear."

"I'll dress in my own clothes." Inuyasha spat and stood up. "Where are they?"

"Upstairs, in our bedroom that you destroyed." Sesshomaru said calmly. "You will wear those clothes for now. Inuyasha glared, but Sesshomaru was unaffected. He crossed his arms. Sesshomaru still didn't react. He looked at the clothes. At least it wasn't a kimono. In fact, the style was very similar to his fire rat robes. The differences were that the over robe was black and the whole thing was a little less bulky; it didn't have as much fabric. This would allow him to move freely. If he wore them, he would have the advantage of already wearing clothes when he grabbed his stuff and escaped. He'd be a lot more comfortable running around with something on. 

With a sniff, he put them on, ignoring the indignity of the collar and leash. Hell, he'd gotten used to the indignity of the prayer beads and Kagome's liberal use of the "sit" command. He sat on the floor and crossed his legs and arms, and looked up at Sesshomaru from under his black bangs. 

For his part, Sesshomaru would have preferred Inuyasha only wearing the leash and collar, and not a stitch else. "As a hanyou with silver hair and amber eyes, your beauty is like the morning, when the sun's first silver rays break the dark and golden flowers open their petals." He said. "As a human with black hair and violet eyes, your beauty is like the evening when night robes the land gently, jasmine blooms, and the hottest fires in human forges have violet sparks. " 

Inuyasha gave him a confused look. "What? Are you talking about how pretty I am? Did I hit you in the head too hard?"

Sesshomaru gave a weak smile. "I suppose you did skip the era of warrior poets."

Before either could say anything else, Yuki knocked on the door again and said everything was ready.

Inuyasha's stomach churned and he stood up, keeping his arms crossed. Sesshomaru took the leash and had Inuyasha follow Yuki while he followed Inuyasha. They didn't go very far and they stayed in the basement. 

Most Japanese houses didn't have basements, so just being in an underground level was weird to Inuyasha. And just how large was this house anyway? It even had hallways instead of the more traditional open-concept Japanese design where rooms flowed together. They reached a large, paneled white door that Yuki opened and the sound of their footsteps changed as they stepped in a large open area with concrete floors. The far end of the room gradually slopped up to what must be ground level and ended with three sets of large garage doors. At that end near the doors were three lines of vehicles, parked closely together, like they had been moved out of the way. It smelled slightly of oil.

Closer to them was a cast iron wood stove, red and throwing heat like crazy. Beside it was a tall work bench, clamps and tool littering the surface. In front of it was a black, padded bench with white supports; the type one would see in a gym, used for sitting on or lying on when lifting weights.

Yuki had stepped out of sight. An unknown man wearing black and gray crouched by the open door to the stove. He wore a face mask and thick gloves to shield himself from the heat. He was using a long rod to twist and poke at something in the flames. A priestess wearing the traditional red and white robes stood on the other side of the work bench to get away from the heat. Her face was lined with age and her black hair was shot with silver. She held a green sprig of some type of plant in her left hand and folded strips of white paper in her right. Whether the paper strips contained prayers, curses, or seals, Inuyasha didn't know.

And he wasn't about to find out. 

Sesshomaru walked him to the bench, and pushed him to sit so that he would be straddling one end. 

Inuyasha, however, had other ideas. He leapt and used the full length of his body in order to reach out with a foot and trip the unknown man, even as Sesshomaru pulled him short with the leash and collar. The man in black and gray did trip. He fell backwards and the fire poker fell with him. It hit the ground with a clang and skidded backwards along the floor. Sesshomaru pressed Inuyasha down to the bench on his back. Being forced down, meant he could reach the floor, and he could reach the fire poker that had just skidded over. 

With a yell he grabbed it and held it up, right next to Sesshomaru's eye. The poker tip glowed red-hot. Inuyasha's hand burned and hurt grasping just the middle of it. Sure, the bastard would grow back his eye, eventually, yet he was always one for keeping up appearances, and this was definitely a major way to "lose face." 

"Let me go." Inuyasha said. They stared at each other. The poker tip sizzled when it slightly touched Sesshomaru's face. 

What Sesshomaru did next surprised Inuyasha more than he could say. He pressed forward and down; the poker hit his face and he didn't flinch. It scored into him, leaving a black trail from the corner under his eye where it first hit, up and back towards his temple as he bent down and bit right on to the mating bite. 

Inuyasha's human skin broke under Sesshomaru's teeth and Inuyasha yelled. He scrambled at the bench and then at Sesshomaru, pulling his hair. Like the first time Sesshomaru had bit him, possession and lust poured into him through the bite. Unlike the first time however, an emotion he didn't recognize was an overwhelming part of it. 

"You mother effer!" Inuyasha screamed. He twisted Sesshomaru's locks, getting a grip and trying to pull him off. He arched against the bench, one foot against the leather bench, the other on the floor, trying to get purchase. His breath huffed in and out with effort and his lips twisted in a snarl. Sesshomaru altered the positioning of his teeth slightly before biting down harder. "Aaahhhhh!" 

His vision went black and his body shivered. Sesshomaru let go of his shoulders and wrapped his arms around him. Inuyasha stuttered. "Nn-nn-nnaaa." He started holding on to Sesshomaru instead of trying to pull him away. Sesshomaru cradled him and rumbled approval. 

Inuyasha's breathing slowed and it was a couple minutes before Sesshomaru let go and lowered him back to the bench so that he straddled the end and was bent forward over it, forehead touching near the other end. Sesshomaru stood behind him. He kept one hand on Inuyasha's shoulder and one pressing on his head. Out of instinct, Inuyasha grasped Sesshomaru's wrist just above the hand that was holding down his head. "What the hell?" Inuyasha asked, coming out of the daze, but it was muffled by the bench. 

There was the sound of quick footsteps as Yuki entered hearing range. She came across the room carrying a case. "So, he changes at night?" She asked. 

"Apparently." Sesshomaru responded. Inuyasha growled. Not that it was particularly impressive given his human vocal chords and the bench muffling him. 

"That was some escape attempt." Said a male voice. Inuyasha assumed it was the guy dressed in black and gray who had been poking the fire. Idiot obviously wasn't a swordsman. A swordsman wouldn't have dropped the poker.

There was the sound of Yuki putting the case on the table and releasing the plastic claps. She revealed a couple small glass bottles and needles still in their sanitized packaging. "He's beautiful." She said. 

There was the sound of plastic packaging being ripped open. Inuyasha tried to smell what it was. It didn't seem like anything that could be used to brand him. It didn't smell hot or anything. It smelled kind of like the medical kit Kagome carried around, but with less stuff. What was it for? He wasn't injured, much less in any way one of those Band-Aid things could help. He was dazed from the bastard biting him again, which was funny because a bite shouldn't have phased him that much, especially as it hadn't felt like he had used any poison.

"Okay, let me adjust it according to the chart Yuri left." Yuki said, her finger trailing down a number chart that was glued to the bottom of the case's lid. She held a newly-opened hypodermic needle in that hand as her other hand selected one of the bottles. "Fifteen CC's." She said to herself, inserted the needle through the bottle's plastic film on the top into the clear liquid, and drew back the plunger to vacuum the liquid into the needle. 

She approached the bench and then her gentle hands were sweeping his black, silky hair out of the way so she had access to his neck. At that point, Sesshomaru had to straddle Inuyasha to keep him down. He held both his wrists with one hand at the small of his back to prevent him from interfering.

"It's okay." She said to him. "It's okay. This isn't going to hurt."

"Mmmnnnnnhhh!" Inuyasha said back. 

He felt the injection more than he felt the insertion of the needle. It stung and burned like a wasp had hit him. Which is to say, it was nothing to him on his pain scale. She withdrew the needle, and then did it again in a spot close by. She repeated this all over the back of his neck and a bit down toward his shoulder blades. While she did this, he heard the miko move closer to the fire and begin chanting. Yuki pressed her fingertips all over the area, encouraging the injections to spread out and Inuyasha realized he couldn't feel her fingers. He felt a slight pressure that told him there was something there, but the area was numb. There were more crinkly plastic sounds and a shhhick noise.

"Okay." She said and stepped back all together. The miko was still chanting.

Okay? Inuyasha thought. That hadn't been a brand. Did these so-called modern yokai think this was a brand? They were crazy.

Someone else stepped up and the miko chanted louder. The first thing he registered was the weight. The weight of the metal on the back of his neck was considerable. It was contoured and fit the curve of his body perfectly, pressing down into him. The second thing he registered was the sound. It was like a sizzle. The third thing he registered was the smell; something was burning. And then he felt it: heat. 

It didn't hurt, but it wasn't comfortable. He made a confused noise into the bench. The miko chanted. He did feel it when the spell took hold. 

"Arrrhhhhhh!" He yelled, twisting in Sesshomaru's hold. His mouth stayed open, lips drawn back from his teeth as he fought it. Sesshomaru's grip on his wrists became so tight, it was punishing; his grip on his head, so firm, he couldn't move a centimeter and jostle the thing on his neck. He thrashed as best he could, shoulders twisting, legs trying to push off the floor and kick out to no avail. Stupid human weakness! 

The miko's chant rose in pitch. Sesshomaru said something and Inuyasha went taught. "Nnnnnn!" He protested. "Nnn! Nnn! Mmwwwuhyyyuuu!"

Unlike the prayer beads Kaede and Kagome had used, this spell wasn't on an inanimate object linked to him; it was on him, in him. He could feel it clamp down on the back of his neck like teeth and dig in, spreading through him. His fingers spassumed. He couldn't stop it. He couldn't stop it! The words of the spell slid around him, under his skin, developing tendril-like barbs that shot into his muscles as it went, rooting it to him, caging him like a steal trap. His vision went white. 

When he came to, he was shivering and panting, still in the same position, still held down. Someone was whining, high-pitched and pitiful. He wanted to tell whomever it was to shut up. The sound kept going, and, to his horror, as he fought to control his breath, he realized it was him. 

The pressure on the back of his neck shifted as someone removed the metal branding iron. He still couldn't feel anything there. 

He shut his mouth and ground his teeth together. He was still breathing too hard to breathe through his nose and the whine kept going. 

"Why is he doing that?" Sesshomaru asked. 

Someone, presumably the miko, answered, "You requested the very strongest containment spell, Lord Sesshomaru." She sounded out of breath, like she had run a long ways. "We linked his body to your will. It is a violation of sorts. You're superseding his will to his own body and his spirit fought it. But he was defeated and it poured into him." She paused. "The whining could be an admission or a protest of defeat. Or it could be because his spirit is hurt."

"And how would I heal his spirit?" Sesshomaru asked. "If indeed that's what it is."

"You encourage him to do what he loves. If he likes to write, or dance, or whatever his passion is, let him practice it." She informed. "That way you're distracting him from the fact of its existence, as it will be uncomfortable and foreign for quite a while, and everyone's spirit grows when they do something they love. His spirit will have to deal with the bonds. They will be there for as long as the brand is."

Inuyasha listened to them and tried to get himself under control. Each time he bit back a whine, it bubbled up again and streamed out. He was actually grateful for the fact his face was hidden, pressed against the bench and behind his curtain of hair. 

"For now, let him rest. Talk to him. Pet him gently. He's in shock." The miko said. "When he starts to come to, offer him water, bits of soft food, orange slices or halved lychee berries; nothing he can choke on." 

"How long will it take him to stop whining?" Yuki asked. "It makes me feel like shit and want to cuddle him at the same time."

"I can't say." The miko responded. "It's related to how long it takes him to come to some sort of terms with his bonds."

"If that's true, he's going to be making that sound for years." Sessshomaru said.

The miko gave a small bow in acknowledgement. "With this spell my Lord, and given the fact you are concerned for his well being, I take it he is not just any prisoner of your great house. If you mean to have him contained but happy, you can employ some methods to encourage Stockholm Syndrome. Does he have a favorite song? A favorite type of music you could play for him?" The miko asked. "A favorite type of food you could cook so he can smell it? A favorite sent?" 

He had no idea if the hanyou liked music. "He likes instant ramen and raw giraffe meat." Sesshomaru said dryly. 

Inuyasha twitched and Sesshomaru looked down at him in surprise. His eyes narrowed in thought. One could say that Inuyasha's passions included arguing and fighting with his brother. However, Sesshomaru didn't want to goad him too much and encourage his hatred. 

The miko suggested more helpful practices to calm Inuyasha, which Inuyasha paid no attention to, lost in his own world. He did notice, however, when Sesshomaru picked him up. He lay in his arms limply, limbs sprawled, head back. He heard the whining sound again and it took him a moment to remember it was coming from him. It seemed to be getting weaker. His breathing was calmer.

Sesshomaru began walking. He told himself this was his chance to escape, to jump from Sesshomaru's arms as they were holding him, not pinning him, yet he couldn't do anything other than lie there. His eyelids fluttered open as Sesshomaru lay him on a bed, face down. They were back in the room in which he had lay on his stomach for most of the day. It smelled like both of them. Sesshomaru left his field of awareness. When he returned, he got on the bed and gathered Inuyasha in his lap. He dimly felt strong hands gather and pull back his hair into a high pony tail in order to keep it off his neck. Sesshomaru pet him gently and started to hum. Inuyasha could feel the slight vibrations and he relaxed.

The first sense to return to Inuyasha was hearing. He heard the sound of a heartbeat, strong and steady and slow. It almost lulled him back to sleep. The next sense was smell. He smelled Sesshomaru. He'd gotten used to it over the last couple of days. And something smelled like that medicine Kagome would use. Anti something. Antiseptic? It had that sharp, medicine smell. His nose twitched with the strength of the smell bothering him. The third sense was feeling. His body felt heavy. There was nothing on top of him, but something warm under him. Something warm and... and moving. But it moved in a gentle up-and-down rhythm. Inuyasha breathed in time with it. 

A hand stroked the back of his head, starting just under his hairline and moving up, caressing him. His hair had been tied up, flipped up to reveal his neck. 

His neck... Inuyasha's eyes popped open. His neck felt numb. 

"Inuyasha." The thing under hum rumbled. "You're okay. You're safe." His eyes dropped again. The hand continued stroking. The warmth and the slow up and down movement was relaxing. He hadn't felt this relaxed since he was a pup. He looked up see amber yellow eyes looking back at him with concern wrinkling their corners. 

"What the hell?" Inuyasha asked, sitting up. His right hand flew to the back of his neck. On his neck, he only felt a dull pressure from his fingers. But his fingers reported a different story. They felt the groves and whirls of a design burned into his skin."You fucktard." Inuyasha breathed out. The brand was large. It went from the second knob of his spine, just under his hairline, down past the line of his shoulders, to where his shoulder blades started. It curved around his neck, too, on either side, creeping towards his collar bone. The brand had burned the whole area, but the Japanese characters in the design were the deepest set in his skin, like he had been stamped. 

"It started to scar already." Sesshomaru said. "It healed up as you shifted back to your normal form at dawn. It should be good for at least fifty years." 

"You..." Inuyasha started and then trailed off, staring at Sesshomaru, still holding his neck, as if he could protect it after the fact.

"You're free to wander the house and the grounds." Sesshomaru moved, rustling the bedcovers as he stood up. "The brand will prevent you from leaving. But if you destroy anything again, Inuyasha, that collar is going back on, I don't care how long I have to borrow it from Lord Sado." 

Inuyasha snarled. "Then that collar would be the next thing I break."

"I would make a disparaging comment about how there's no way you could break it, but it seems I keep underestimating you." Sesshomaru said. "Which is why I made sure even someone with the power level of our father would have trouble fighting that brand." 

Inuyasha stayed on the bed, holding the back of neck still. "I'm going to kill you." 

"I expect you to try." Sesshomaru said. "But you won't succeed." Fast as lightning, he was suddenly in front of Inuyasha. He pressed his lips to his, and Inuyasha parted his lips in surprise. Sesshomaru pressed his advantaged and licked inside his mouth, tongue pressing everywhere as if trying to mark and claim it. And then he was gone. He had stepped back to observe Inuyasha, who was frozen, mouth still open.

"Wh-, what?" Inuyasha croaked. "Bastard!" He regained his senses. He rubbed his lips vigorously against his arm as if he could wipe off kiss cooties. 

"Shower." Sesshomaru ordered, gesturing to the en suite bathroom. "Leave your clothes in the hamper by the door."

The only warning Sesshomaru had was the slight sound of the bed springs compressing, which, given he had ordered Inuyasha to get up, had been expected. What was not expected was Inuyasha lunging at him to fight.

Saved by quick reflexes, Sesshomaru ducked to the side and he missed, punching the armoire instead, cracking the drawer. 

"Inuyasha!" He yelled as Inuyasha came at him again. With a whirrling motion, involving Sesshomaru pivoting on one foot, he grabbed Inuyasha's outstretched fist and spun them both around in a move that ended with Inuyasha wrapped in his arms, back to front, with Inuyasha's arms pinned to his sides. "We will spar properly." Sesshomaru promised. "But right now, you're hungry, and before you eat, you need to shower, so you don't smell like a human."

Inuyasha snarled. "Let me go, you bastard." If he tried to fight back in the position now, Sesshomaru would kick the back of his knees and he'd go down. Once you were on the floor in a fight, it was pretty much over.

"No." Sesshomaru said, his voice hard. "I will not let you go until you address me civilly." Inuyasha grumbled and said nothing. Sesshomaru waited, and then an idea struck him. "Do you know what that means?" Sesshomaru asked. 

"Of course I do, dog breath!" Inuyasha said.

"Then tell me what it means, and I'll let you go." He responded simply. Inuyasha said nothing again. "I can't tell if you're quiet because you don't want to admit you don't know it, or..."

"Fine!" Inuyasha yelled. "I don't know it. But I figured it was an insult."

"No, it wasn't an insult." Sesshomaru replied calmly. "To address someone civilly means to be appropriately nice to someone when communicating."

"...You want me to ask you nicely to release me?" Inuyasha said, incredulously. 

"Given that you attacked me with no warning when I was only trying to help you, yes." Sesshomaru said. 

"You can't stand here all day, holding me." Inuyasha pointed out. 

Sesshomaru raised an eyebrow. "Oh, really? I'm willing to bet I have much more patience than you."

Inuyasha grumbled. "Fine. Release me."

"Try again."

"I didn't call you a bastard." He said.

"True, and that was better. But you gave me an order. As the head of the family, only I give orders. So you have not addressed me civilly yet." Said Sesshomaru.

"Dear head of the family, please release me." Inuyasha said, sarcasm dripping from his words. 

"Correct words." Sesshomaru said. "Now try it in the correct tone."

Inuyasha was quiet for several minutes. A feeling inside of him was squirming and rebelling, but it was just as trapped as he was. He knew if he fought, he'd lose, and Sesshomaru would make him say it anyway. It would just take longer and result in more bruises. His chin dropped. "Please release me." He whispered, worried someone else would be able to hear it. 

Sesshomaru immediately released him and he stood frozen, like a stone, something like despair inside him. Sesshomaru came to his front and tilted his face up and met his eyes. "Very good, Inuyasha." He said. He smoothed back hair from his face gently and stepped away. "Shower and we'll eat."


	12. Chapter Twelve: The Day After

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The day following the branding is full of fighting.

Freshly showered and in clean clothes with his white hair still in a pony tail, Inuyasha sat at the kitchen island on the bar stool and watched Sesshomaru fry a pan full of eggs. "Do you like them sunny side up or scrambled?" Sesshomaru asked. 

"Does it matter?" Inuyasha asked. "They're just chicken eggs."

"I'll do half and half so you can try both and decide." Sesshomaru said, interpreting the response to mean Inuyasha didn't know the difference. He was discovering that much of Inuyasha's attitude came from his anger and misinterpretation of things he didn't understand. Sesshomaru ran a fork down the middle of the pan and scrambled the right side. Inuyasha drank a full glass of water and filled it up from the Brita pitcher and drank again. His hand twitched toward his neck occasionally, but he aborted the movement. Even though it had mostly healed, the branded skin was tight and felt unnatural. The cloth moving against it made it itch. 

"Does it hurt?" Sesshomaru asked, seeing the movement.

"Like you care." Inuyasha shot.

"I do care. Why do you think we took such care to numb you?" Sesshomaru asked. Inuyasha glared. "After breakfast, I thought we could go spar, since you are so eager." Sesshomaru continued. "We can spar for as long as we'd like. You can show me some moves and try to beat me." He emphasized the word "try." "Then we can shower, eat lunch, and watch a movie. How does an Indiana Jones movie sound?" He slid all the eggs onto a large plate and placed it in front of Inuyasha who immediately picked up some scrambled egg with his fingers.

"Uh, no, use these." He offered a pair of chopsticks.

"Like hell. Who has the time to eat with delicate sticks?" Inuyasha asked. "Unless we're talking about stabbing it with a stick and eating off it."

"Would you like a spoon?" Sesshomaru asked.

"Fingers are quicker." Inuyasha said and continued eating. He brought his fingers down to the plate again only for Sesshomaru to slide it away. His fingers hit the counter top.

"Here, Inuyasha, you have to use eating utensils, not your fingers." Sesshomaru said. Inuyasha looked him in the eyes and slowly sucked one of his fingers in his mouth. Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes. Inuyasha moved on to the next finger. Sesshomaru put a spoon on the plat, slid it back to him, and leaned against the counter with his arms crossed. After sucking on each finger, staring at him the whole time, Inuyasha picked up the spoon, slid it under a piece of egg and lifted. The egg slid off. Inuyasha scowled. 

Sesshomaru did his best not to smile. He sat down across from him and buttered three slices of toast - his preferred breakfast - and supervised to make sure he didn't use his fingers. 

Almost half an hour later they were in the dojo. Sesshomaru had a separate building in what Inuyasha had thought was the backyard but was actually the courtyard. 

"What fighting style would you like to try first?" He asked. "Kung-fu, Jiujutsu, or taekwondo?"

"How about kick-fu your-su ass-do?" Inuyasha said, observing the space. It smelled like fresh tatami mats. There were scuffs on the support posts, so he figured the mats had been replaced due to use, not that the building was never used. Sesshomaru laughed and Inuyasha jumped, unused to the sound. 

"That's fine. But there are rules." He said. "And Inuyasha, while you may think rules are made to be broken, if you break these, you will face the consequences."

"Keh." He responded. 

"First, we are not going to break bones, draw blood, or destroy the building. Both you and I know we could have an all-out brawl that could wreck Tokyo." Sesshomaru stated. Inuyasha smiled. "We'll fight until one of us is pinned, break apart, and then start again.

"The consequences of breaking those rules will be chores."

"Chores?" Inuyasha asked, turning back to face him after taking stock of the size space he had to work with.

"Taking out the trash, that sort of thing." Sesshomaru explained. "And if you destroy the building, you get to build it again." 

"Well, come on then." Inuyasha said, lifting his fists up. As soon as he finished the sentence, however, he found himself flying across the length of the building. He landed on his feet, arms up, in a crouch, which was good, because Sesshomaru had beat him there. 

Five hours later, they were both sweating. Sesshomaru had decided Inuyasha knew nothing about martial arts and the first lesson he subjected him to was how to fall correctly. This meant he had knocked him off his feet until he started to slap the floor as he went down and roll to disperse the energy. There had been a lot of cursing and seething during the process. The following lessons had been how to fall as an escape move. He showed him several "three-point pins" by performing them on him, and having Inuyasha in turn perform them on him. He then showed him how to get loose from them by falling away in a certain direction, maneuvering his body perfectly to slip free and, preferably, making a strike against the attacker on the way. Inuyasha's right knee was numb for a full ten minutes after one of those strikes. Then came the "four-point pins," which were usually done with both people still on their feet, using the body for leverage instead of the floor. 

What came most naturally to Inuyasha was using leverage against his opponent. Sesshomaru figured it made sense given he had been fighting bigger and stronger yokai than himself since he was young. Remembering exactly how to escape holds was the hardest, given he usually used his sword to slice himself free in a normal fight. 

"That was fun." Sesshomaru said as they caught their breath. 

Shaking slightly from exertion, Inuyasha felt vulnerable and pissed because the difference in their skills had become obvious to him. He also felt a little off because Sesshomaru hadn't done anything to really hurt him the entire time. He was even teaching him, which was mind-boggling. 

"I haven't broken one of your rules, so we're not done yet!" He said, curling his fingers to show off his claws.

Sesshomaru laughed and walked over to him. Surprised, Inuyasha stood still as Sesshomaru took Inuyasha's hand, and carefully drew the claw of his pointer finger over his cheek, making a tiny scratch that bled one drop of ruby blood before it healed. "There." He said, released his hand, and wiped the drop of blood of his own cheek. "Now you have to take out the trash."

Inuyasha's brain caught up to the situation. "Yeah? I guess someone should give the maids a day off from cleaning up after your ass."

They showered and although Inuyasha would never admit it, he enjoyed getting clean in the hot water. They had lunch; something Sesshomaru called a salad, which Inuyasha refused to eat until he added chicken. Sesshomaru watched him the entire time to make sure he used a fork. Then Sesshomaru made him take out the kitchen trash before they watched two Indiana Jones movies. Inuyasha talked to the screen the entire time: 

"That's right, kick his ass!"

"No, don't do THAT."

"The best part is when his face melts off."

The end credits to the second movie were rolling when Yuki came into the room in her pajamas and plopped on the couch in between them, yawning.

"You're just getting up?" Inuyasha asked, incredulous.

"She has jet-lag." Sesshomaru said. He didn't mention she had also been up most of the night to help with the branding. Still yawning, Yuki nodded. 

The front door opened within hearing range and fancy shoes tapped on the marble floor as someone walked in. Inuyasha rose in alarm, sniffing. 

"It's Ichirou." Sesshomaru said. He stood up. "I believe it's close to dinner time. Yuki, will you help me cook?"

"Of course." She said, and rose to her feet. 

"You could come with us and either watch us or help us, or you could start another movie, Inuyasha. Realize, however, you'll have to stop it when supper is ready and come eat with us." Sesshomaru said. 

"We're eating again?" Inuyasha asked, emphasis on the "again." "We've already eaten twice today."

Yuki stared at him. 

"It's the common practice to eat three times a day, Inuyasha." Sesshomaru said. "Why else would we have names for each meal?"

"So you know what time of day it was when you last ate." Inuyasha answered. "And Kago... And, uh, I heard you're supposed to eat different things at different times."

"Here we usually eat three times a day." Said Sesshomaru, non-pulsed. "So will you stay here or come with us to the kitchen?" 

"I'll go where the food is." He answered and got up, jumping over the couch to get ahead of them. 

"I hope you don't mean the zoo!" Sesshomaru called out to him.

"What?" Yuki said. "What about the zoo?"

"It's an inside joke, but he doesn't understand why that's funny yet." Sesshomaru told her as they trailed after.

"So it's an inside-inside joke? Inside squared?" Yuki asked, smiling. He didn't deign to give a response and got out a package of fish fillets that had been thawing in the fridge. Yuki opened a cupboard to reveal a fifty pound bag of artisan-grade rice, from which she measured four cups and poured into the rice cooker on the counter right above it. "How much rice do you want, Inuyasha?" She thought to ask before putting the measuring cup back on the hook in the cupboard. 

The question drew his attention away from the fish. "How much can I have?"

"As much as you want." She said. He eyed the whole bag. "As much as you want to eat for this meal, given we're also having fish. And if you're still hungry afterwards, we can always make more." 

He paused. Kagome's family always offered him food, but he always knew it was a limited resource, and, after her death, it felt wrong to eat what they provided. He never liked stealing, and it was always a challenge, both to hunt, and to keep and protect the excess meat from his hunts. The idea of there always being food, easily-accessed food he didn't have to hunt or steal or light a fire to cook or fight off a hoard of demons to earn was... odd. Despite the zoos, as Sesshomaru called the place with the penned, mostly foreign animals, there weren't a lot of animals to hunt as the humans had expanded their pavement cities so far. Heck, the only place he had seen deer recently was the zoo. 

"A cup," Yuki lifted the measuring cup in demonstration and pointing at a line on it, "makes enough cooked rice to fill your hand." 

He shifted on his bar stool at the kitchen island. "So what about this much?" He asked, holding both hands together, fingers curled up. 

"I'll make you three." Yuki said, and got two more out of the bag. 

Sesshomaru opened a small door, like an oven door, but long and very short, that was right under the stove. A metal rack with an attached, slide-out pan under it, came out and he put the spiced fillets on it. 

Ichirou entered the kitchen and raised an eyebrow. "This is quite the domestic scene." He took a seat at the island one stool over from Inuyasha. "Why isn't the chef cooking?" 

Snapping the rice cooker top closed, Yuki looked over her shoulder and raised an eyebrow of her own. 

"Ah, yes." Ichirou said. Inuyasha looked at him. He sounded floundered and looked tired, the blue lines under his eyes pronounced. Inuyasha stared. It was weird to see Sesshomaru's face look tired. Ichirou looked back at him out of the corner of his eyes. "Why are you staring?"

"It's weird to see one of Sesshomaru's clones, that's all."

"You didn't stare at me before." He pointed out. "And I'm not a clone, I'm his son."

"Keh, there were so many of you, I couldn't concentrate on one." Inuyasha responded. "Where are the other clones, anyway?"

"Inuyasha." Sesshomaru said. "You will stop referring to our children as clones."

"Oh, I will, will I?" Inuyasha challenged. "Your kids might as well be your clones." He sat up straighter and his fingers twitched like they wanted to curl into fists. 

"Our children," Sesshomaru repeated, "are not my clones." He watched him carefully.

"What are you talking about?" Inuyasha asked. "You didn't pup me! I think I'd remember giving birth." He snorted. Ichirou leaned away slightly. Yuki smiled to see it. Her eldest brother feared very little in this world. Without a flinch, he could attack a court case that was so snarled with complications, it would defeat most lawyers before they even got through the introductory brief. He was a black belt in two martial art forms. He was smart, strong, and powerful. And here he was leaning away from his very new and very young step-father who apparently had the fighting skills of a samurai with all the finesse of a bull in a china shop. 

"We are blooded mates, Inuyasha. You didn't just gain a mate, you gained a family. They are your step-children." Sesshomaru said. "Of course, I wouldn't object to expanding our family."

Inuyasha's face went white. He didn't move. Ichirou leaned a little farther away. Yuki said nothing and kept still. 

"You crazy, dick-sucking bastard, I don't have any children." Inuyasha said, his voice getting louder. "I don't know what the hell a step-child is, either. What, are you going to say I have a floor-child, too?"

Yuki's face cracked into a smile and Ichirou snorted a laugh. Sesshomaru sighed and checked the fish, which had begun to smell delicious. 

"There's no way I have children." Inuyasha muttered. 

"My original point, Inuyasha, is that you have to address Ichirou and Yuki, and all members of the family civilly." Sesshomaru said, willing that Inuyasha remembered what "civilly" meant.

Inuyasha put his elbows on the counter top and his chin in his hands. "You mean like..." He looked at Ichirou. "What's your name?" 

"Nishimura Ichirou." Ichirou said. 

"Well that's original." He responded. "That's like naming a cat "Cat."" 

"It is also like naming a dog demon "Inuyasha."" Sesshomaru said. 

"Keh, you didn't have to follow in our old man's footsteps that closely." Said Inuyasha.

The rice cooker behind Yuki beeped. "Rice is done!" She announced. 

The fish was done shortly thereafter and served at the kitchen island. Inuyasha washed his hands with little fuss, given everyone else did it, but he reached to pick up his fish with bare fingers. Sesshomaru cleared his throat and tapped his own chopsticks on his plate as a reminder. Inuyasha only realized the sounds had been directed at him when he had half of the fish in his hand, held up, dangling over his open mouth, tongue out. "Eh?"

Sesshomaru gave him a look that said, "put the fish down." A small part of the fillet broke off and fell in his open mouth. Nobody moved. Quick as lightning, Inuyasha fit the whole thing in his mouth and returned to normal posture, picking up the chopsticks, looking for the world to see as if he hadn't eaten a bite and was just about to dig in to the small mountain of rice on his plate with the correct utensils and manners, completely innocent. 

Ichirou ignored the whole deal and continued eating. Yuki laughed. Inuyasha smiled at her. "Don't encourage him." Sesshomaru said. "Eat with utensils or not at all." 

"Yeah, yeah." Said Inuyasha. Towards the end of the meal, he pushed the loose rice around on his plate with his chopsticks. "Hey," he said, "where's your second clone and his clones?" At Sesshomaru's look he said, "I don't know their names!"

"Then you should have asked where our second son and grandchildren are." Sesshomaru said. 

He rolled his eyes. "Fine, where are your second son and grandkids?" 

"They are visiting Sakura's family. Sakura is my son's, Jirou's, wife, and the mother of their children."

Inuyasha grunted. 

"How wonderful it is finally have someone who answers in monosyllables." Yuki commented. "Usually a question and answer like that would have taken half an hour given our family of lawyers. Please don't study law, too, Inuyasha." 

"He's still too young to take the bar exam." Ichirou grumbled. 

"Afraid he might give you a run for your money?" Yuki teased. 

"What's the bar exam?" Inuyasha asked. 

"It's a big test to see if you're knowledgeble and smart enough to be a professional lawyer." Ichirou answered. 

"Uh huh. What exactly is a lawyer?" He asked. 

"Someone who practices law." Ichirou answered. 

"By that," Yuki said, "he means if someone accuses someone else of stealing or killing, they have to prove it. And a lawyer is the one who puts all the information together to prove the person did it or didn't do it." Yuki elaborated. 

"Why would you need to do that?" Inuyasha asked. "Just beat the guy when he tries to steal from you. You don't need to get other people involved." 

"Some people can't protect themselves." Yuki said. 

"So?" Inuyasha asked. "They can pay other yokai to protect them or to get revenge."

"That second part is illegal." Ichirou pointed out. 

Inuyasha frowned. "Why?" 

"Because you could be lying and just want to hurt others." Ichirou said. 

"But if someone lied to me to get me to go hurt someone who didn't do anything, then I'd go back and knock some sense into them so they wouldn't do it again." Inuyasha said.

"Firstly, I hope we're speaking hypothetically." Ichirou stated. "Secondly, if you had already killed for the person who lied, you can't take that back."

"Hmm." Inuyasha said. He glanced at Sesshomaru, who was looking very happy, but who schooled his face into a more neutral expression when he saw Inuyasha looking. 

"That's just a very general example." Yuki said. "It gets a lot more complicated and twisty."

"I think people make things complicated on purpose." Inuyasha said.

"Rumiko Takahashi is a great example." Ichirou said. 

"Who?" Yuki asked. 

"Never mind." He said. He sighed, his eyes hardened and he stood up. "Father, I am sorry, but I cannot stand for this. He sups with us as if he's a barbarian from 500 years ago. He lives in your grand house, in your home, and destroys as he will, going so far as to blow out the wall in your personal room. All I can see in my mind's eye is you bleeding profusely while preventing him from escaping so he won't be executed. How is he worthy of joining this family when many yokai would willingly kill off every member of their own family to join ours, the most powerful in all Japan?"

Inuyasha bared his teeth and stood up as well, knocking over the stool with a clang. "That's what's got you upset? A smashed wall and a little bit of blood? You pansy-ass."

"Enough!" Sesshomaru roared and they both jumped. "Ichirou, I see your loyalty, but here it is misplaced in what you think of my actions instead of in my actions. I think you are upset about the sudden violence in a space you considered safe, by a person you did not consider dangerous, and to a person you consider invincible. And I think you are mad at yourself for being unprepared; for reacting slowly when fast action could have prevented some damage to my person. 

"Son, my honored first born, as smart as you are, you have not seen what is in front of you. All the precautions I, myself as a daiyokai, took with him, should have warned you what he is capable of. Here you let your arrogance rule your perceptions." Ichirou didn't react. He remained silent and listened.

"Know that in that vehicle, Inuyasha still feared for his life, and even when he did, he still did not deliver a killing blow." 

Yuki made a confused noise.

Sesshomaru looked to her. "Inuyasha has a fighting move where he can use his own blood as a blade. As you know, he attacked us in an escape attempt on our way back from the council meeting. In that attack, Ichirou," Sesshomaru shifted his gaze, "Inuyasha did not aim for my neck." Ichirou, if possible, became more still. "Nor did he aim for any other point that could have delivered a mortal blow.

"You need to understand, Ichirou, that the type of violence you witnessed, is what both he and I are accustomed to. In all of your martial arts fighting, you have only trained for mock battles on thick mats, surrounded by referees and spectators, with fight times predetermined and whistles telling you when to go and when to stop. A real fight is quite different. I see now it is an oversight of mine that I have not trained you for such. I do not blame you for reacting slowly and I am still proud of you as my son. The fact you reacted slowly was, in fact, my failing in teaching you."

"No, father." Ichirou said. "The failure was mine."

"You dare go against me on this?" Sesshomaru asked. Ichirou said nothing. 

"Inuyasha." Sesshomaru switched his focus. "The example I mentioned is one of many. You did not try to take the life of the person you believed to be on the verge of imprisoning and killing you because even then, you only take a life as a last resort. And the whole reason you were in that mess is because you were protecting innocent people as best you knew how."

The whole room was quiet after Sesshomaru said this. Both Ichirou and Yuki considered Inuyasha in a new light. 

"We are family and to mend this rift, I now address you both:

"You, Inuyasha, look down upon Ichirou because he does not have the raw instinct and experience you have relied upon all your life to survive. You see his manners and interests as frivolous and counterproductive at best, devious and potentially dangerous at worst.

"You, Ichirou, look down upon Inuyasha for being young and rash. You question his ability to serve as a leader of this family and fear because of his inexperience, he will not be able to meet expectations as a leader of this family.

"Each of you, has a point. Therefore, you will be each other's teacher." Sesshomaru finished. Silence greeted this announcement. 

"I understand, father." Ichirou said, and bowed formally from the waist. 

"Good. Inuyasha, you will teach Ichirou how to fight dirty and he will teach you manners. No, you don't have a choice in this." Sesshomaru summarized.

Inuyasha hadn't understood some of the vocabulary, but he understood the ideas. He was thrown off balance because not only had Sesshomaru chewed out his son to verbally protect him, he had complimented him, freely, in front of others. He felt uncomfortable, like he didn't know if the sky was up or down. The only thing he could think to say was, "Do the same dojo rules apply?" 

"If you break the dojo, or anything else, you still have to fix it." Sesshomaru said. "Other than that, don't cause long-lasting damage to each other." Inuyasha smiled. Ichirou frowned. "Any further questions?"

"Excuse me." Yuki said in a small voice, as though she didn't want to draw attention to herself after an epic lecture such as that, but couldn't help herself. "What do you mean the type of violence you are both accustomed to? How has Inuyasha, as young as he is, learned to fight dirty?" 

Inuyasha crossed his arms and looked expectantly at his mate. He couldn't wait for him to explain time travel. 

"He was an orphan who lived on the streets and in the wild." He said simply. Inuyasha considered this for a second before realizing it was true. "Both of you return to your seats." Inuyasha watched Ichirou to make sure he was doing it before Inuyasha started to. "You will start today." Sesshomaru said. "You will stay at this table after dinner and talk civilly about modern yokai laws and society for half an hour. Then you will go to the dojo and spar for half an hour before going to bed. You will do this every day."

"Thank you for entrusting me, father." Ichirou said.

"Inuyasha." Sesshomaru prodded. "What are you thinking?"

"That your son is stupid for thanking you for ordering him to get his ass kicked every day." Inuyasha responded. 

"Be that as it may," Sesshomaru smiled, "you both will learn something."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was trying to decide which "bombs" to drop during the family dinner and decided to drop both: the fact Inuyasha is technically a father and the hint that he and Sesshomaru are brothers. Even though I dropped the bombs, they haven't exploded yet. Inuyasha doesn't get how step family works; he doesn't understand he's a step-father. And while Ichirou noticed he said "our old man," referring to his and Sesshomaru's father, he didn't say anything. 
> 
> The names Nishimura Ichirou respectively mean "from a western village" and "first born son."  
> I had Ichirou break the fourth wall. Rumiko Takahashi is the author of Inuyasha. 
> 
> I'm not sure if this should become an mpreg story. At this point I can either make Inuyasha's comment on giving birth strictly sarcastic, or make it as a comment on something that's possible for yokai. Thoughts?


	13. Chapter Thirteen: Coming Clean

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After sparring, Inuyasha needs to shower. Sesshomaru needs to assist. Smut mixed with feels and possessiveness, and an escape attempt.

"Ichirou doesn't know how to block a kick." Inuyasha announced as he entered their temporary bedroom after his and Ichirou's first teaching exchange. 

"And how is that?" Sesshomaru asked, not looking up from doing work on his laptop. He knew perfectly well Ichirou could block a kick in a normal circumstance. He was curious to learn just how creative Inuyasha had been.

"He gets surprised when you get behind him." Said Inuyasha. "He relies too much on vision to know where to place his block, instead of hearing."

"That's a very good observation." Sesshomaru said. "So you worked on teaching him how to perform defensive blocks based on sound?" 

"I mean l literally kicked his butt." Inuyasha said, satisfaction written all over his face. He looked at Sesshomaru. "Stop smiling. It's weird."

"I apologize." Sesshomaru said curtly, yet he didn't change his expression. "Shower and go to sleep."

"Wait. Do you guys normally shower three times a day?" Asked Inuyasha. "I mean, you eat three times a day."

"No. We usually shower once a day." He responded. "Today has been special in that regard. You are, however, expected to shower every time after you spar with someone."

"Why? Modern prissy-ass yokai can't stand the smell of sweat?" Inuyasha taunted. 

"Both you and I know yokai can issue some of the worst smells in the world." Sesshomaru replied. "Showering is a necessity." He looked at the clock on his laptop. "And I assume your escape attempt didn't work?" 

Inuyasha froze. "I expected you to test it out," Sesshomaru said, "to see if the brand and the spell really worked. You were only waiting for me to not be watching you so that in case it didn't work and you did escape, I wouldn't be there to chase you down."

"In your dreams." Inuyasha snarled, and closed the bathroom door behind him. Of course Sesshomaru had been right, but he wasn't going to tell him that. The trice-damned brand had worked. He had only gotten to test it once, however, during the time when Ichirou went to the bathroom, between their talking session and their fighting session. As soon as Ichirou had shut the bathroom door, he had gone out the front door, sprinted across the spacious lawn to the curb like greased lightning, and promptly been thrown back on his ass by an invisible force field that sparked white and purple when he struck it.

Sheer strength pushing against it, nor the Blades of Blood move, nor the Iron-Reaver-Soul Stealer move worked on it. He had only returned to the house when he heard Ichirou calling his name. He planned to try again later. And at the end of their spar session, however, the bastard had the gall to escort him back to the room Sesshomaru was in. The dick had even waited for him to open the door and go in before he left. It was like he knew. 

Remembering how the bastard had yipped in surprise the first time Inuyasha got behind him and gave his tush a kick made the whole experience bittersweet. 

He braced his hands against the wall and let the water run off his shoulders. Droplets hit the marked skin on his neck and he shivered. It was more sensitive. 

The bathroom door opened. "Inuyasha." Sesshomaru's voice called into the room. "Don't forget to wash your hair."

"Fuck you, I'm not a kid!" He yelled back. Sesshomaru stepped into the room and looked at him through the clear glass of the shower door. Inuyasha didn't move.

"Then why is your head dry, the ends of your hair wet, and all of it still pulled back in a tail?" He asked.

"Go to hell." Inuyasha said, turning his face away so he wouldn't see his embarrassed blush. He twisted his body slightly to hide his dick, but realized that only made his rear a target, so he went back to the relatively neutral stance with only his side facing the door.

"Here." Sesshomaru said and opened the shower door.

"Wha, what?" Inuyasha squawked and pressed his whole body to the opposite side of the small enclosure. 

"Let me undo your hair." Sesshomaru said with the attitude of a saint being questioned.

"I can do it."

Sesshomaru cocked an eyebrow. "Then do so now." He rolled his shirt sleeves up to his elbows.

"Shitty bastard." Inuyasha cursed him, but immediately started to undo the ponytail. Well, he tried. It felt like the cost of releasing it was that half his hair go with it.

"I had never seen you with your hair up and thought you might have trouble with it." Sesshomaru said. Inuyasha shot him a look from behind a mass of long, tangled, white hair that was half wet, half dry. Sesshomaru made a 'come here' gesture. Inuyasha grumbled curses and did so slowly, stepping to the shower door. Sesshomaru stood at the door, still dressed.

With strong, deft hands, Sesshomaru got the tie out with minimal hair pulling. Released, the hair went everywhere, blocking his vision. Inuyasha rubbed his tender scalp and looked up out from under his hair at an odd "phhhllleeep" sound. Sesshomaru had reached into the shower for a large white plastic bottle squirted a large amount of some clear gel onto his palm. It smelled faintly like Sesshomaru: citrusy. He jumped, but didn't get too far, when Sesshomaru slapped it on his head and started to rub with both hands. 

"S-stop!" He demanded, jerking away only to bump into the shower wall. He put his hands up as if to protect his hair from the offending shampoo, trying to block Sesshomaru who had starting rubbing his scalp vigorously. "Gah! You're washing my hair!"

"Yes, I noticed." Sesshomaru said. "I don't think I've ever seen you with your hair cleaned and conditioned, either, and thought you might have trouble with it, too." 

"Of course I clean it. I put soap in it." He replied, deciding to protect his ears above all else; covering each with a hand.

"And what type of soap have you been using?" Sesshomaru asked. Finished with the general scalp, he started lathering the rest of the hair.

"The same soap you use for everything else." Inuyasha hesitated. "The white bar thing that was in the shower, and when that was gone, the yellow stuff in the bottle with the red words and the picture of the kitchen on it." Inuyasha said.

"Dish soap." Sesshomaru paused. "You've been using dollar store dish soap for your hair."

"Does it matter?" Inuyasha complained. "Soap is soap. I get clean." 

"I'm sure you even smelled like lemons for a day." Sesshomaru said sounding amused. "Rinse. Get all the shampoo out."

"You don't tell me what to do." Inuyasha muttered and stuck his head under the spray of water.

Sesshomaru stuck his hands in the water, too, before taking the bottle of conditioner from the set-in shelf. He squeezed out a dollop of it, paused, thought for a second, and then doubled the amount. 

Once Inuyasha was rinsed, his hands still over his ears, he put half of the conditioner he had on the top of his head, and grabbed the rest of the hair to start working the other half of the conditioner up from the ends.

"Why do you need two types of soap?" Inuyasha grumbled, allowing the cleaning. Curious, he released an ear, stuck a finger in the gelatinous mountain of conditioner that was on his head, and brought it to just under his noise to smell it better. 

"The type of soap that is only for hair is called shampoo. That was the first thing we used." Sesshomaru said. "The second type isn't really a soap. It's called conditioner. It's to make sure your hair is healthy."

"Healthy?" Inuyasha asked. "Whoever thought of healthy hair? What, are you going to say I should feed it vegetables like, like the green stuff Kagome always went on about?"

"I wouldn't be surprised if your hair had creatures in it that ate vegetables." Sesshomaru retorted. "But, no." He couldn't think of an explanation Inuyasha wouldn't rail against, and he didn't want to push his luck. He went back to Inuyasha's scalp, rubbing the conditioner in. He reached the unprotected ear and rubbed, covering the slightly furry backside with the conditioner. He pressed into the crease behind it, where the ear set against the head and rubbed.

Inuyasha moaned. And then slapped his hand over his mouth, standing stock still as if to be invisible and pretend it hadn't happened. Sesshomaru did it again, this time with both hands on both of his ears, circumventing the hand that still covered one ear. Inuyasha moaned again, his leg jerked, but his hands shot up and wrapped around Sesshomaru's wrists. 

"Don't do that." He hissed.

Well, maybe Sesshomaru would push his luck after all. He leaned down and sucked the tip of Inuyasha's right ear into his mouth.

"Gahhh!" Inuyasha yelled and stumbled back, trying to jerk away. His shoulders thudded against the wall of the shower and Sesshomaru caught him, following him into the shower, not caring that his clothes became soaked quickly, wrapping one arm around his waist and one around his head. "Ah! Shit!" Inuyasha jerked. He scrambled, pulling at Sesshomaru's arms and arching. Sesshomaru sucked harder and enveloped the whole ear, his hot mouth going down on it and pressing down to the base. He undulated his tongue against it. "Fffffffuuuuuuccccckkk." Inuyasha thrust his hips against him. Sesshomaru growled his approval. "Nuh..." Inuyasha voiced his pleasure at the vibrations and wrapped his arms around Sesshomaru, scratching his back instead of his arms. Sesshomaru dragged his mouth up, letting most of the ear slip from his lips. He gave a gentle nibble on the tip and then went down and sucked the whole ear, hard. "SHIT!" 

Inuyasha trembled against him and Sesshomaru switched to the other ear. In less than two minutes, Inuyasha was rock hard and keening, in the shower, thrusting against Sesshomaru who encouraged it, pressing back. He slid his leg in between Inuyasha's legs to give him a better area to grind on. Inuyasha quickly picked up on it. 

He thrust along Sesshomaru's leg, putting pressure on his balls as his erect dick waved with the movement. Fully pressed against Sesshomaru, he have small, abortive thrusts, like he wasn't sure what to do; like he wasn't sure what movements would give him the most pleasure. Sesshomaru rumbled with a low growl, feeling possessive and protective at the show of inexperience. Inuyasha whined back and Sesshomaru's arm around his waist dropped so he could cup his ass and press Inuyasha closer to him, helping him set a pace in his thrusting. 

At this Inuyasha threw his head back and gasped. The water streaming over them made it all the better to press and thrust against Sesshomaru's tight body. Sesshomaru was still dressed, but the water made his white top transparent. He kept up the attention on Inuyasha's ears as Inuyasha shook and gasped. He experimented with sucking hard and softly; which areas he could press with his tongue that made Inuyasha make different sounds. 

Inuyasha's claws broke the skin on Sesshomaru's back when he came. 

Inuyasha shivered with his full body and went limp, leaning against him for support. He whined with overstimulation as Sesshomaru nursed his ears some more before finally stopping to give a kiss to the top of his head. The conditioner had rinsed off. 

Aroused as well, but more interested in taking care of his mate, he secured Inuyasha to him with an arm around his waist, and grabbed the luffa with his other hand. He transferred the sponge to the hand around Inuyasha's waist and grabbed the body soap with the now free hand. He soaped up the sponge and drew Inuyasha's hair off his back, over one shoulder so he could wash his back. 

Inuyasha regained his senses and pushed at Sesshomaru's chest. "You bastard." 

"Mm." Sesshomaru intoned. "You mean 'thank you.'"

"S-sh-shut up." Said Inuyasha. 

"Here." Sesshomaru said, pulling away and handing over the luffa. "Use this to scrub the rest of your body. He stepped back out of the shower and unbuttoned his shirt, which had become see-through. Inuyasha stared. Sesshomaru smirked. The wet clothes clung to his fit body. Drops of water fell from his hair onto his chest and rolled down. As he unbuttoned his shirt, he revealed abdominal muscles stood that out like a washboard. He untucked and shrugged the shirt off, catching it with his fingers before it hit the floor. He tossed it over to a basket hamper. The only scar on his skin was one that circled his lower bicep, just above the elbow on his left arm. It was dark compared to his skin and the edges of it were jagged, the dark scar spiking up and down into the healthy skin. 

Sesshomaru followed where Inuyasha was looking. "Yes, ototou, you did that to me. It took me a couple centuries to re-grow it. The scar is from where I had attached the other yokai and human arms in order to fight. It probably wouldn't have scarred if I hadn't done that."

"Serves you right." Inuyasha said. "You kept trying those arms because you wanted to wield the Tetsaiga. You and Jaken kept trying to freaking steal it from me."He glared at Sesshomaru and in his anger began to scrub his arm hard. 

"And we succeeded." Sesshomaru said. A corner of his mouth quirked up. Inuyasha stood in all his glory, wet, surrounded by hot steam rising from the water, muscles moving as he lathered and the soap bubbles clung to him. The water hadn't washed off all his seed. Some of his white spend stuck to his flat stomach. He hadn't noticed yet. He also hadn't remembered he could close the shower door. Not that Sesshomaru was complaining. And, gods, he was never going to look at Inuyasha's ears the same. His cute ears seemed larger now that his hair was wet. The delicate inside of the ears were pink; almost as pink as his blush when he came. 

"You didn't succeed in keeping it!" Inuyasha spat. "You still can't touch it! Neither can any of your clones, either! I saw it on the floor, half-wrapped in fabric!"

"Children, Inuyasha, not clones." Sesshomaru undid his pants, sliding the zipper slowly down. Inuyasha pointedly didn't say anything else or look up, and moved on to washing his chest. With a toe, Sesshomaru stood on the hem of his left pant leg so it wouldn't catch as he withdrew his leg. With his pants around hid thighs, he bent over and withdrew one leg. Inuyasha washed his other arm. Sesshomaru withdrew his other leg. Inuyasha washed his stomach. Sesshomaru tossed the pants to the hamper. Inuyasha looked up. 

Sesshomaru had a thumb in the band of his underwear. Also wet, the dark boxer briefs left little to the imagination. His dick was a long line pointing up. Inuyasha turned red. 

"Do you like what you see?" Sesshomaru asked. The stripes on his cheeks, wrists and ankles, and the crescent moon on his forehead seemed to be stronger in color. Inuyasha remembered what it was like to have all that muscle against him, pinning him, forcing him to take pleasure. He turned even redder and Sesshomaru's scent grew sharper. 

"You know," said Sesshomaru, "we covered your first lesson: how to say please." 

Washing a leg, Inuyasha paused. "What are you talking about?" 

"In the woods, when you tried to escape from the car." Sesshomaru explained. "Near the end of our love-making I had taught you how to say please, and you said it so prettily." 

Inuyasha choked. "No, I didn't!" 

"You did," Sesshomaru said, "repeatedly." He took off his underwear. "I hadn't decided on a time for your second lesson: how to say thank you." 

He tossed the boxer briefs into the hamper as well and stepped forward. Inuyasha flattened himself to the shower wall, on the other side of the spray. "I'll teach you a lesson, you prissy ass! You can't!"

"I can't what? Teach you? I differ." Sesshomaru said, his eyes sharp and smoldering. "By the end of the last lesson you were saying please so politely. But I don't mind giving a review if you've forgotten."

Inuyasha seemed frozen to the wall, despite the hot water still falling down. Sesshomaru stepped closer. In a flash of movement, Inuyasha aimed the shower head towards Sesshomaru. His acting scared had evidently been, in part, an act, to get Sesshomaru closer. The sudden hot water blinded him. and Inuyasha leapt up, put his feet against the wall and launched himself over Sesshomaru's head. 

Temporarily blinded, but perfectly capable of hearing, Sesshomaru grabbed his ankle as he sailed overhead, arresting his vault and bringing him crashing to the floor. Inuyasha slapped the floor as he went down and twisted, transferring the energy to his palms and the back of his shoulders. With his back against the ground, he jerked his knee up of the leg that Sesshomaru had captured, so that he drew himself closer to him - all the better to have enough force and leverage to kick him with his free leg. 

Seeing this, however, Sesshomaru yanked, bringing him closer than he wanted. This close, Inuyasha couldn't kick without bending himself in half. He shifted his weight to put his foot on Inuyasha's sternum to pin him down, but Inuyasha rolled to the side and Sesshomaru's foot hit the floor. Inuyasha immediately flailed and squirmed, trying to gain distance. Wet and naked against the tiled floor, with one leg captured, held aloft, this was a difficult thing to do. 

Knowing Inuyasha would run like the wind and use anything he passed on the way to freedom to his advantage, Sesshomaru didn't plan on letting him go. He was also enjoying the view. 

"Let me go, you bastard!" Inuyasha yelled. Unable to get up to Sesshomaru's level or get away, he decided to bring Sesshomaru down to his level. He torqued his torso hard, curling in to swipe at Sesshomaru's ankles. 

Sesshomaru nimbly jumped out of the way of the first swipe, but, distracted, he hadn't considered that Inuyasha would attack with both hands and he went down from the second, higher swipe with his other hand. His shoulder smacked into the floor hard because he refused to relinquish his hold on Inuyasha's ankle just yet. He immediately sat up, adjusted his grip, and pulled on him. Still wet, Inuyasha slid across the floor. Before he could uncurl himself, Sesshomaru grabbed a wrist, let go of his ankle, and was on top of him. 

A couple of furious seconds later, Inuyasha's wrists were both pinned by his head and Sesshomaru sat on his stomach, again. 

"You cock-sucking, dick-faced...!" Inuyasha snarled, squirming under him. Sesshomaru wrapped his legs around him, pinned his wrists above his head and eyed his ears like an alcoholic would look at a glass of wine. Inuyasha figured out what he was looking at. "No! No, no, no you don't!" He shook his head. His ears went flat as they could. 

Sesshomaru leaned down, shifting his weight lower so that they were pelvis-to-pelvis, and drew Inuyasha's wrists closer to the top of his head, so Sesshomaru could use his own arms to bracket Inuyasha's head and hold him still. Realizing what was happening, Inuyasha bucked, legs kicking out. "No, no!"

Sesshomaru nuzzled the top of his head and licked the corner of his ear. Inuyasha nipped at his chest, and instead of moving away from the teeth, Sesshomaru pressed forward. Inuyasha used the chance to bite deep. Sesshomaru twitched, but otherwise didn't react, and set out to perk up an ear. 

After five minutes of kicking, muffled curses finally turned into moans. All the time Sesshomaru rocked against him. He released an ear and bent down to whisper: "What do you say, Inuyasha?" 

Inuyasha clenched his hands. The room was filled with the sound of the water falling. "You..." Sesshomaru broke the rhythm to thrust long, slow, sure; their bodies warm and wet against each other, slick. Steam still came from the shower. Inuyasha lost his train of thought. "You," he tried again, grit his teeth. He was captured and pinned and aroused. His nipples peaked and his cock ached, but he felt the tightness on the back of his neck from the brand. "I don't know!" He yelled.

Seeing tears for the first time in the corners of Inuyasha's eyes, Sesshomaru stopped rocking against him. He moved so he could hold both of his wrists in one hand and with his free hand, he gently pet the side of his face. "Good boy." Said Sesshomaru, voice low.

"Fuck you!" He yelled back. 

"Honesty is important." Sesshomaru said, continuing to lightly stroke his face. "Look at me." Inuyasha whined and instead of bucking, he thrust up against him in a full-body undulation, sinuous, tight, needy. Sesshomaru growled his appreciation. "Look at me, Inuyasha."

Inuyasha opened his eyes to see Sesshomaru gazing at him with an emotion he couldn't name. They kissed. This time Inuyasha licked into his mouth. Sesshomaru sucked on his tongue. Their breathing grew rougher. Sesshomaru began rocking again and Inuyasha met his movements enthusiastically. Sesshomaru wrapped his free hand around both of their erections and Inuyasha gasped. He rubbed himself against Sesshomaru, biting his bottom lip. Sesshomaru jerked faster and Inuyasha came. "N-nya! Ahh! Ah!" 

Braced above him, Sesshomaru watched his pleasure as he came. His lean body arched. His pink lips opened. His amber eyes were half-lidded. His white hair was tussled and fanned around him. He smelled delicious. And all of him belonged to Sesshomaru.

He worked his hand harder, milking him and making him cry out again. He growled, arched his back arched to compensate for their height difference, and bit into the mating bite. Inuyasha yelled again and bucked, fingers twitching. Sesshomaru's hand went faster and Inuyasha kicked out helplessly at the overstimulation. "Please!" He cried. "Sesshomaru!"

Sesshomaru came, his seed splattering all over Inuyasha. 

"You mosquito-dicked weasel." Inuyasha breathed out in complaint. Sesshomaru let go of his neck and licked at the bite mark as if to make up for it. Both rested a minute as they were. "Okay," Inuyasha snarled, "get off."

"Just did." Sesshomaru said, sounding smug. 

"Get off of me, you vampire!" Inuyasha demanded. He tried twisting away. It didn't work. "I have to wash again."

"No, you don't." Responded Sesshomaru. "It's convenient you're already pinned." 

"What do you mean? Oh, come on! No!" Inuyasha yelled as Sesshomaru began spreading and rubbing his cum into Inuyasha's skin. 

"You're mine." Sesshomaru said by way of explanation. "And now everyone will be able to smell it." 

"No, no, no!" Inuyasha fought, but Sesshomaru calmly rubbed him down. There was a lot of it. The damned bastard held and spooned him all night to make sure the claim stuck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, yes, you guys are right. There will need to be more than 14 chapters.


	14. Chapter Fourteen: An Escape

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Inuyasha tries several escape methods, and one works.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Readers gave feedback (thank you!) saying there was no way Inuyasha was going to take being captured lying down. Yeah, he's definitely not. 
> 
> Warning for some angst.

Early that morning while it was still dark, Inuyasha slipped out of the room. Sesshomaru had forbid and prevented him from taking a shower, so he still stank of him and the smell hadn't helped his morning wood go down, which he ignored. He slinked through the halls in only his fudoshi, holding his red fire rat robes, till he found the kitchen on the ground floor. Surreptitiously, he took a sink bath. Freshly scrubbed, he dressed, and hey, there was a window right over the sink. He didn't know where Tetsaiga was, but he had his robes, and he needed to find a way out. Feet on the counter, body poised to shoot out the window as soon as it opened, he held his breath as the window latch clicked open. Nothing happened. Slowly letting his breath out, he grasped the top of the window and pulled up. 

An alarm went off. It sounded like sounded like one of those four-door cars with the lights on top of them. "Shit!" 

A disembodied female voice, sounding annoyed but calm announced: "Twenty-third window, kitchen, opened."

"You bitch!" Inuyasha yelled. 

"Twenty-third window, kitchen, opened." She repeated. 

Inuyasha bolted. In the court yard, he clambered up on to the roof of the main house, which was taller than the rest of the buildings. If he couldn't go through the barrier, he'd go over it. From about the middle of the house roof, he started off at a flat, all-out run, warming up by needing to jump to a couple different roof sections. He reached the end of the roof, his toes of his left foot touched the edge, and he jumped. 

He had enough energy behind him to bust through the top of a mountain - he'd done it before. He hoped he wouldn't hit anything and the excess power he put into the jump would serve just to launch him far away from the house grounds. But if the barrier, did go up this high, he was going to hit it hard. He hit the barrier, his fist outstretched, and a web of violet light cracked and spiraled out from the point of impact. Between the spider webs of violet, the barrier flashed white. It bent, curving outwards from him slightly as it absorbed the energy. "Rrrrrrraaaaahhhhhh!" Inuyasha roared. Then the curve he had pressed into the barrier pushed back. The violet cracks receded. The indent he had made totally snapped back into form with a "whomp" sound. Kicked back, with nothing to hold on to, Inuyasha fell from eighty feet up in the air. 

"Shit!" He cussed as he landed. "Didn't go high enough." No one had yet come out to stop him, so he moved quickly and climbed back up. He jumped from further back on the house, aiming more vertically instead of horizontally. He must have been a hundred feet in the air this time. No luck. By the time he fell to the earth, the alarm had stopped. Someone was up and looking for him. It wasn't like they wouldn't be able to figure out where he was, given that the barrier kept doing an impersonation of a firework show each time he hit it. 

He ducked low and ran across the courtyard to the second tallest building, a two-story guest house. On top of that building, he heard it when someone stepped outside onto the patio next to the main house. Crouched, he allowed his anger to build. Who the fuck did Sesshomaru think he was? Inuyasha was not a pawn or an animal, a thing to be collared and controlled and used. Sesshomaru was not a freaking god, lord of anything and anyone he wanted. He growled low in his throat. The bite mark on the side of his neck throbbed. The whites of his eyes began to turn red and twin jagged stripes of purple appeared, rolling down from his hairline across his cheekbones. He was a hanyou, yes, but he was the son of the greatest daiyokai to ever live. He would not be contained. 

With a roar and a straight vertical jump kickoff so powerful the guest house roof caved in, he leapt up. This time he didn't hit the barrier wall. He hit the barrier ceiling. The spidery violet light that spindled out like cracks in a mirror and the flash of white light on each separate part of the barrier were more vibrant and reached farther than they had the first two times he hit it. The bulge in the barrier pushed up so far, Inuyasha's head was technically above the rest of the barrier ceiling - for a second. 

Inuyasha fell back to the guest house with the caved-in roof and hit the second-story floor with a crash, going through it, going through the bottom story floor, and hitting the ground with a smack, his body forced a few inches into the dirt. He lay there, stunned for half a minute. The barrier had a ceiling. He couldn't get over it. He jumped to his feet and landed in the house. But that had been a huge hit to the barrier. Maybe it was weaker. And maybe, if he focused on punching through it, committing all his energy to doing so, and just hit the damned thing instead of using energy to jump and leap around, he might be able to push through. 

Powered up and rearing to go, he didn't bother to exit through the door; he punched a hole in the nearest wall and stepped out. Feet digging in the earth for traction, he took up position behind the house, at the wall, and began punching. He waited until there were so many violet cracks in it, it was hard to see the separate white pieces, and then, drawing his fist back, arching his body and tensing his legs, he hit it with so much strength, one of the violet cracks licked up the barrier wall to the ceiling. The entire area of the barrier in front of him shone. Yet it didn't break. 

"NO!" He yelled and hit it again. "NO!" He hit it again. "NO!" He yelled and the entire barrier shook. Gritting his teeth, he hit it again. 

For the whole day, he pounded on the barrier, and no one stopped him. The only thing that changed over the day was how brightly it glowed in regards to the strength of his hits. 

Finally, he stopped and dropped to his knees, his palms and forehead pressed to the barrier keeping him in. "No." He whispered. 

His knees weakened and his butt hit his ankles. "No."

He fell asleep on the ground. No one bothered him.

He woke up before the sun again. If he couldn't go over it, he would go under it. 

Hidden from view, between the guest house and the wall, he dug. He dug like a dog, crouched, using both hands to scoop out the dirt his claws loosened. By the time the moon was up, he had discovered the barrier had a floor. The floor of the barrier slopped and he realized what he had considered the ceiling was a dome. The whole barrier was a sphere. He sat deep in the hole he had dug, quiet. He breathed slowly. It was peaceful. His head was tilted back and he stared at the dirt wall, blind, not seeing it. He tilted his head back farther. His silver hair pooled in the dirt. "No." He yelled to the sky. He wasn't crying. 

He crawled out of the hole and walked back to the main house. The moon had risen and the air was cool. Sesshomaru was standing on the patio, holding a ceramic cup. It smelled like green tea. Inuyasha ignored him even as he passed him to go into the house, dirt dropping from the folds in his clothes, and Sesshomaru didn't react. He simply sipped his tea. After Inuyasha was inside, he fished his phone out of his pocket and typed in a reminder on his Google calendar for the next day: "Tell Hitachi Construction to bring a bulldozer." 

Sunrise the next morning saw Inuyasha perched on the roof of the main house. He wasn't going to be stuck here for 200 years if he could do anything about it. Heck, he wasn't going to be here for another hour if he could do anything about it. Yet, he was decidedly at a disadvantage.

For one, he didn't know the terrain, an aspect which he was currently trying to correct. He hadn't been awake the first, nor the second time he was brought into the house, and the time they had driven to the council meeting, he hadn't paid attention to their surroundings, concentrating on the occupants of the car instead. Now that he took stock of where he was, he noted the land was forested, but he could smell some salt in the air, and he could hear distant water if he strained his ears. Given Sesshomaru was Lord of the West, he figured they were in the middle of nowhere in western Japan, maybe a hundred kilometers from the coast or something. He wondered if he could swim across to China. He didn't hear cars or the sounds of a city. He would have to climb back up at night to check the sky. He couldn't really read the stars, he has always relied on his nose for navigation, but, he would be able to see if there was a slight glow in the sky from a city. Light pollution could be seen from a great distance, thought it would be tricky to tell whether a low glow was either from a small city close by or a large city father away. And, he hadn't decided whether to head towards the city or towards the woods when he escaped. Still, knowledge was important. 

The other aspect of the terrain was the house itself. He hadn't figured out the complete layout of the house yet. He didn't know what and who all was in it, either. He figured there was definitely an armory somewhere, and definitely servants. He didn't know if some or all of Sesshomaru's kids lived with him. They could have just been visiting when Inuyasha was first brought here. Or, they could be visiting someone else now; sent away as Lord Sesshomaru acclimated his new blooded mate to the married life.

Secondly, age had agreed with Sesshomaru. He had gotten stronger, more powerful, and seemed to be an expert in all types of personal combat. As a daiyokai, he had an extremely long life and was currently in his prime years. Even though the bastard had become more charismatic, his fighting style remained cold and calculating. He only moved with great purpose, to evade and strike with the highest accuracy, using the least amount of energy to do the most damage. While Inuyasha's power and skill was nothing to sneer at, his fighting style was a lot more chaotic, used a lot more energy, and, as a hanyou, he didn't have as much energy to expend in the first place compared to a daiyokai.

The difference in their knowledge and skill level now that Sesshomaru had 500 years more on top of their original age difference, was... large. And he had weapons Inuyasha hadn't even known about until Sesshomaru had used them on him to beat him, such as the taser. At the memory, his chest prickled where the taser's needles had sliced into him. Only stubbornness stopped him from rubbing at the healed spot. The only bright spot is that he had his robes back. 

There was a bang as a door opened to the courtyard. Sesshomaru's three grandkids shot out into the space like rockets. The twins were in the lead, racing each other as the youngest fought to keep up. They ran around the dojo and climbed a tree, making its branches shake. Inuyasha watched them and scratched his head with his foot. It was so weird to see young Sesshomaru clones have fun.

A woman walked into the courtyard. She smelled like a lotus flower. But that couldn't be right. It must be a perfume. Inuyasha smelled the scent again, breathing in deeply and slowly to drag the air through better. Nope. There was no chemical after-smell that accompanied perfumes. At least from a distance, she smelled like a lotus flower. She was dressed in a traditional Japanese hakama of light green with an orange obi. Her hair was done up conservatively and she moved gracefully. 

Inuyasha glanced back at the kids. He had assumed their flowery scent was a symptom of their prissy attitudes. Now that he had smelled this woman, she must be their mother, Sakura. 

She stood, watching the kids and something of an ache developed in Inuyasha's chest. It was such a domestic scene: a mom standing protective watch as the kids played. Inuyasha's mother had watched him play, but never with playmates, and certainly never with his brother. He rubbed his chest again and told himself it the feeling was from the taser. 

The youngest one fell chasing after his brothers. To be fair, the elder twins were using their yokai powers to sprint in such a way it was clear they were practicing the "phase" move Sesshomaru could do, which he used to basically disappear from in front of you and reappear right behind you with his claws glowing green and the smell of acid on the air. 

Unable to keep up, the youngest went to a shed, on the side of the courtyard, rummaged inside, and appeared with a red wagon. He ran over to Sakura with it in tow. "Mother, may I practice with my claws?" His young, high voice was clear.

Sakura reached out and slid a loose tendril of his hair back. "Make sure to take the woodchips to the forest. If you fetch my worst overcoat, I'll put up the post for you, Hiiro." 

"Yes, mother, thank you." Hiiro said, dropped the handle and raced inside. In less than a minute he came back with a dark gray oversized coat that Sakura put on, covering her clothes completely. It was so big, it even covered her hands. She entered the shed and came back out with an eight foot tall wooden pole that must have weighed a ton. Inuyasha's eyes got bigger. This was a good reminder that female yokai, even dressed in silk, were strong as nails. 

She picked out a spot, had Hiiro hold the pole up, and, claws glowing orange of all colors, swiped at the ground, making a small hole. With both hands, she took the pole from Hiiro and slammed one end into the ground a good two feet deep. If she hadn't dug a bit of the hole first, the pole might have cracked from her strength. 

The pole stood straight up, loosened dirt rimming its base. "There you go, dear." Sakura said.

"Thank you mother!" Hiiro piped. He took the wagon over, spent time placing it in what looked like a random spot, and then attacked the pole. His own claws glowed faintly orange as well and he went at the pole with such ferocity that woodchips flew... and landed right in the wagon. 

"Mother!" One of the twins cried and flew to her side. "May we practice clawing, too?"

"No, Sasuke, you and Sei practice your sprints. You both are already good at clawing." Sakura said.

"But mother, we could get better at controlling our poison." Sasuke protested. 

"The last time Sei practiced, he was impatient and cut the pole in half in his first swipe. I agree you both need to learn control and right now you both will practice control in your running." She stated. 

Sei, who had stopped to listen to the exchange, began running again and Sasuke joined him. Hiiro, meanwhile, had filled up the wagon and started taking it away towards a gate in the courtyard wall. Right before the gate, he looked, made sure his mother wasn't watching, and jumped into the wagon. He clawed at the ground once to propel himself, and shot off through the gate, down the hill to the forest. 

Watching all this from the roof, Inuyasha saw the faint barrier that outlined the property give way to Hiiro. He stood up suddenly. If he could get the wagon and fill it up with dirt, he would technically still be on Sesshomaru's property, even if he left the property. It might be a way to trick the brand! Maybe the shed had another wagon. But, no, he was going to have to wait until they left the courtyard anyway. The more silently he could get away, the more time he would have as a head start.

One of the twins cried out as the other ran into him and they both toppled over. 

"Mother, it's him!" One of them said, pointing up at Inuyasha. Crap. 

Sakura turned. Inuyasha scowled and crossed his arms. Maybe if he acted like he had a right to be here, she wouldn't bother him. 

Seeing him, she schooled her expression of surprise into a neutral one, and bowed slightly from the waist. "Sir Inuyasha," she said in greeting. She said nothing else and remained in a bow. Inuyasha didn't know what to do. 

"Uh, hi." He said. "You must be Sakura, huh?" 

She stood up straight and gave him a small smile. "I apologize deeply for the rudeness of my children."

"Um." Inuyasha scratched the back of his head. "It's not a big deal." He mumbled. 

Hiiro came back through the gate with the now-empty red wagon. Following his mother's gaze, he saw Inuyasha and dropped the handle in surprise. 

"Children," Sakura said, "show respect and give a proper greeting." The twins, having untangled themselves and gotten to their feet, eyed him with distaste. Their nostrils flared. But all three bowed from the waist, deeper than their mother had done, and paused. After a couple seconds Inuyasha realized they were waiting on him. 

"You don't have to bow." He said. "Keh, I'm not anyone worth bowing to." The kids seemed to agree with him and stopped bowing immediately.

"On the contrary, you are a head of this great house." Sakura said. "You are the blooded mate of the patriarch and your position is of high status accordingly." 

"I think people should only be respected for what they do." Inuyasha countered. "As far as you know, I haven't done anything worth respecting." 

"I know you have won the heart and the respect of someone whom I admire greatly. I trust his judgment, thusly, I trust that you are someone worth respecting who has done great things." She said. 

Inuyasha frowned. She didn't say anything else and seemed to be patiently waiting. "You don't have to stop doing what you were doing." He said. "Hiiro's got pretty good aim. Sasuke and Sei are repeatedly doing a pretty advanced move for their age." 

Sakura smiled and Inuyasha felt he must have done something right. "Do you have any pointers for them?" She asked. 

"Uhh..." Inuyasha scratched the side of his nose. He hadn't forgotten the time they had jumped him while he was weak, bound him with curtain ties, and dragged his mostly-naked ass to a room full of yokai to be judged by Sesshomaru. 

He sighed. It's not like he wanted to make these kids a bigger pain in his ass and more capable of fighting, but there was one thing really obvious that anyone should be able to point out to them, so it shouldn't hurt if Inuyasha was the one to do it. "Sure." He said, and jumped to the ground, bounding to a spot within five feet of Sakura. "To phase, I mean, to move really quickly like that, you can't think in a straight line." He pronounced, arms crossed and tucked into his sleeves. He looked at the twins. "You can't just go from Point A to Point B in a line, you have to curve your path a bit. That way you slip into the super-fast movement instead of forcing yourself into it, and that way if there is anything in your way, or you want to get behind someone, you can adjust your path, curve it differently, which you can't do if you were going straight."

Sasuke and Sei looked at him as though he were a dog that stood up on its hind legs suddenly and gave a lecture on how to forge a sword. "Children!" Their mother reminded them, and they both snapped to attention and gave a bow. 

"Thank you, sir." They said together and Inuyasha got a chill from how in sync they were. Also, it was such an odd sight for him: two mini, young Sesshomarus thanking him and bowing... bowing to him of all things. Hidden within his sleeve, he pinched his arm. Nothing changed. 

"Koga, a friend, told me that when you're going fast over long distances, it's faster if you curve your path then, too. He said he didn't know why, but he had those jewel shards on his legs forever and never stopped running, so I think he knew what he was talking about." 

"You mean the old wolf demon?" Hiiro asked, butting into the conversation. 

Inuyasha smirked. "Keh, I don't know about old." He said, and stopped. Koga would be ancient by this time, actually. The smile fell off his face. He wasn't a daiyokai, so he would either be ancient or dead. Heck, if Inuyasha had stayed in the feudal era, he'd be dead by now. "Is he still alive?"

If any of them were confused, they didn't show it. "Koga is the retired leader of the western dog clan." Sakura said. "His son, Hitachi, is the current leader." 

Inuyasha's face showed surprise. The idea of his friends having kids, and grown-up kids at that, was weird. 

"Giri no okasan," Sei or Sasuke said, "will you stay and watch us practice?" 

It took Inuyasha a second to realize they were talking to him. "Giri no okasan" was a term generally used for maternal figure who was not related by blood. However, "okasan" by itself meant "mother." 

"Okasan?" Inuyasha sputtered. 

"Giri no obasan?" Sei or Sasuke corrected himself by replacing "mother" with "grandmother." 

"Obasan!" Inuyasha was caught between falling over in shock and seeing red.

"Maybe the term most acceptable to him will be giri no otosan." Sakura offered. "Otosan" meant father, so "giri no otosan" referred to a paternal figure who was not related by blood. It was usually used to mean "step-father." Given Inuyasha's actual age and the fact the term was used for a general paternal figure, it was more appropriate for Sesshomaru's grandkids to call him that, instead of "step-grandfather," which was a specific term.

"But, I'm not..." Once the female-male correction was made there was the general correction to be made that he wasn't their relative at all. 

"Respectfully, Inuyasha, will you stay and oversee their practice to give some further guidance on how they might improve their performance?" Sakura asked. Her question cut through the panic building in him. He didn't say anything and she looked at the twins. 

"Uh, sure." Inuyasha said. He felt weak. Sakura bowed slightly in respect, and stepped back to the patio. He scowled. The twins looked at him, unblinking. "Start whenever you want." He said. They both disappeared. One of them smacked into Hiiro. He had decided to try and get behind his brother to scare him, and it hadn't worked. 

"Sei!" Yelled Hiiro.

"Hiiro!" Sei yelled back.

They started to fight. They wrestled on the ground and Sei punched Hiiro's side. Inuyasha laughed, loudly. They stopped mid-tussle and looked up. "That's not how you do it." Inuyasha said and wiped away a tear of laughter. "You can't curve the path at the end like a fish hook; at least not over such a short distance when you're new at it and not warmed up. You've gotta do one long arch. And then when you're fighting close range like that, jabs work better. You can hit almost with a jab as with a haymaker punch, but you can do more of them because you don't have to pull your arm back as far, and you can focus the hit to a more specific area. " 

"Which area is the best?" Sei asked. The brothers were still frozen in their tableau. Hiiro was on the ground, with a forearm up in a block; the other arm askew, fist balled up. Sei was perched above him in a crouch, on his toes and hand, his own fist drawn back. 

"If you don't want to kill him, the liver is good. It'll hurt and he'll limp a while, but it won't kill him unless you hit really hard." Inuyasha said. "If you do want to kill him..."

"You do not want to kill your brother." Sakura inputted from the sideline. "You will not hit very hard, Sei, ever."

"Yes, okasan." Sei said dutifully. He had gotten a gleam in his eye when Inuyasha was about to impart lethal advice. 

"What about me?" Hiiro asked. "You gave him fighting advice."

"I gave advice. Both of you could use it. Your liver is on your right." Inuyasha said, helpfully. Sei scowled. "Okay." Inuyasha said. "Try again. The phasing, not the fighting. We'll get to the fighting later. Maybe." He looked at Sakura. "If your mom allows it." 

"Let's do the phasing first." Sakura said. The boys stood up. Crash! Sasuke ran into both of his brothers. 

Inuyasha almost fell over laughing. Over the next half hour he orchestrated their practice. If they didn't successfully phase around Hiiro, but crashed, Hiiro got a free hit in. Hiiro was a better option to crash in than the tree, a better motivator (who wouldn't want to successfully phase behind their brother to scare him), and Hiiro liked being involved. He was learning tips for when he could start doing the moves. 

"Giri no otosan, Sasuke, Sei, Hiiro, it's time to prepare for the evening meal." Sakura called out. A light blue watch flashed on her wrist.

"What's there to prepare?" Inuyasha asked. "You guys don't have to hunt for your meals." 

Sasuke laughed. "Wait, you're serious." All the kids looked at him.

"Well," Inuyasha said, turning so they couldn't see his face, "I guess you have to cook it."

"Usually the chef cooks it." Hiiro supplied. "All the servants were sent away and given a break though, for, like, two weeks." 

"So we have to go help cook?" Inuyasha asked. He considered cooking as an unimportant step between getting the food and eating the food. It was torture to smell it, touch it, practically taste it, know you could eat it, and not eat it. He would admit cooking made the food taste better sometimes. For example, the ramen Kagome would bring. Even he didn't consider the dry, waxy noodles as food until she added hot water. 

"No, we have to go clean up: change our clothes, wash our face, all that. If there's enough time, mother might insist we shower." Sei said. 

Inuyasha scratched his face. "Why?"

"What do you mean why?" Sei responded. 

"Why do you have to look pretty to eat?" Inuyasha asked.

Sei opened and closed his mouth a couple times. "It's... well..."

"It's because you don't want to smell something disgusting while you eat." Sasuke said. 

"So all I have to do to take your food from you is to not shower and then sit beside you." Inuyasha said. He cracked a smile. 

"No." Sasuke growled. 

"So why..." Inuyasha started.

"It's polite." Hiiro said. "When you sit down to eat and enjoy the smell of your food, and everything else smells good, you don't want to smell something that smells bad." 

"I guess that makes sense." Inuyasha sniffed. He eyed the gate. "Why don't you all go ahead? I can put the pole back in the shed." 

Sakura gave a small bow. "You honor us with your favor." She said. 

As soon as Sakura and the kids left, to wash up, Inuyasha grabbed the wagon. He went over to the gate, and started digging with both hands while he crouched, clawing the dirt and flinging it in between his legs like a dog. Most of it landed in the wagon. He jumped on top of it and his feet sunk in the soft dirt. He bent over and, carefully, began to propel himself forward, scratching at the ground. The red wagon rolled forward. He stiffened as the front of the wagon went through the gate, anticipating slamming into the barrier. He scrunched his face and closed his eyes. And... he slipped through. The dirt-filled wagon rode downhill, towards the forest, with him on it.


	15. Chapter Fifteen: Uncle and Step-Father

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ichirou and Jirou figure out a truth.

Inside, Jirou joined Ichirou in Sesshomaru's study to talk before dinner. 

"Was it difficult to settle him in?" Jirou asked as he sat down in a plush leather chair. 

"He is not quite settled." Ichirou said. "He's been trying to escape still. To use up some of his energy, to distract him, and to encourage familiar bonds, I've agreed to spar with him. We began a knowledge exchange in which we talk and spar for an hour each day."

Jirou's eyebrows rose in surprise. "Ichirou? The great Ichirou has committed himself and some of his precious time to taming that hanyou? " His voice went higher in disbelief. Jirou stopped talking. When the general silence in the room continued, he said, "You can't even take time off work to sleep most days, let alone find a mate or have children, despite your duty to have heirs as the prince of the family, and now, all of a sudden, you find the time, everyday?"

"He might be a hanyou, but he fights like a samurai." Ichirou said. "For all of his immaturity, he is formidable. As to why I have decided to dedicate myself in this way, he is the newly blooded mate of our father, who is the leader of our family and our clan. I am showing respect to our new mother, and thus our father and our clan." He emphasized the word "our." 

"You have accepted him." Jirou said, surprised. 

"Taming a samurai is a much bigger challenge than taming a hanyou." Ichirou responded. "He has honor. He is simply rough around the edges." 

"Rough like a river that turns from completely calm and serene and possibly friendly, to a raging torrent that can kill you with no notice." Jirou said. 

"Ah." Ichirou intoned, sinking deeper into his leather chair, sounding a bit satisfied. "You're still upset about the fight in the car." 

"Upset? I'm not upset about anything!" Protested Jirou. Ichirou just looked at him. 

There was a long silence again. Jirou fought not to fidget. Ichirou had always been the more patient. "I was upset about his attack in the vehicle as well." Ichirou admitted. It was an obvious fact, but to admit emotions was generally not done, especially by a person of higher status to a person of lower status. As the heir, or prince, of the family, Ichirou was supposed to be stoic. However, as the heir, he was also a leader, and Jirou needed a guide to process his feelings. Much like Sesshomaru had done for him, Ichirou guided Jirou. "It was sudden, and unexpected, for several reasons. Given that you had extended the olive branch to him and were trying to make him feel at ease, it must have felt like a slap in the face.

"However, brother, your first instincts and intentions were right. Inuyasha should be made to feel at home."

"How have you come to accept him?" Jirou narrowed his eyes. 

"Father didn't bribe me with a quicker promotion track at work, if that's what you mean." Ichirou said with a corner of his mouth turned up in a half-smile. "The whole board would have to approve it."

Jirou narrowed his eyes more. "Father could make them do it." 

Ichirou's smile increased. "Yes, but he didn't." Jirou's nose flared, breathing in deeply, as if to test for stress signals to smell if Ichirou were lying. "He did explain several things and point out choices Inuyasha made that spoke to his character."

They sat in silence for a while longer. "Do you know how and why father picked him in the first place?" Jirou asked. "Did he find him at a hanyou preschool and let lust decide?" Ichirou gave him a flat look. "You must know how young he is." Jirou protested. "He acts and seems to be younger than my children, yet he's the blooded mate of the most powerful daiyokai in Japan. If father only listed after him, he didn't have to mate him, he could have simply slept with him. Why did he mate him? 

"I can see the desire to save the hanyou's life, but..." He rubbed his face. "It doesn't make sense."

"It is not for us to question father's choices." Ichirou said. "Go back to having the attitude you had towards him before the attack in the vehicle." 

Chin near his chest, slumped in the chair, Jirou glared, then sighed, and his gaze grew distant. 

"There is one thing." Ichirou said. Jirou moved only his eyes to look at his brother. "When our father, Yuki, Inuyasha and I were all in the kitchen preparing a meal, the subject of names came up. Inuyasha made fun of my name for being so literal, 'first born son from a western town,' and our father, of course, pointed out that the name Inuyasha is literal as well. Inuyasha then said, to quote him: 'you didn't have to follow in our old man's footsteps that closely.'" 

"Are you sure that's a quote?" Jirou asked. "That there weren't curse words liberally peppered in there?" 

Ichirou's mouth twitched. "I am sure that's a quote." 

"How odd." Jirou mused. "'Follow in our old man's footsteps.' Could they have somehow shared a father figure?" 

"Any and all reasons I can think of for him saying that are ridiculous." Ichirou complained. "For your further consideration, I present what father told me when he first brought the hanyou in to be healed. He said he knew Inuyasha's sire, that his sire was dead, and thus he, our father, was responsible for him. During the conversation, his talk of being responsible, kept leading me to believe he was a parent, yet when I asked for confirmation, he repeated that Inuyasha's sire is dead." 

"Could it be..." Jirou said, "that our father is his dam, not his sire?" 

Ichirou froze. His eyes narrowed in thought. "That is a possibility. Yet, what reason would he have to hide the fact he is Inuyasha's mother?"

"The first reason that comes to mind as to why he would hide the fact, is that he wants to spare the family name; however, as everyone now knows the 'crimson samurai' is his blooded mate, the family name has not been spared from the gossip circles." Jirou said. "Secondly, despite the fact incest was common in the olden days, I doubt he would mate his own child." He shuddered slightly at the thought of being in his father's bed. The idea of mating his father of all things... Plus while he desired his father's approval and attention, he did not desire to be at the center of his father's attention. Sesshomaru was possessive, to put it lightly. And, he had seen the size of Sesshomaru's member when they had gone to an osen together. Subconsciously, he squeezed his butt cheeks together. 

"Let us think of all the reasons we can for the following facts as I list them, and then go back over the reasons." Ichirou proposed. Jirou nodded. "The facts are as follows. One, a murderous hanyou who is maybe 200 years old, much younger than us, whom we had never heard of in our lives, has such a strong emotional and dutiful pull on our father, he made him his blooded mate and saved his life. The speculation from these facts are various. Questions that arise from it are many."

"You're not in court, Ichirou." Jirou interrupted. 

"Fine." Ichirou capitulated. "Question one, did he mate him only for the reason of saving his life?"

"I admire how you say 'fine' and continue anyway." Jirou noted. 

"If so, we can't determine which was the greater motive for such a move: emotional feelings or dutiful feelings." Ichirou said. 

"You're trying to determine whether the drive to save his life was mostly emotional or dutiful obligations, so you have the first stepping stone to further speculate what their relationship was in the beginning, given that as his sons, we had never heard of this person with whom he had a relationship so strong it resulted in marriage." Jirou said. "That's not the smartest approach. Speculation built upon speculation will result in a quagmire of puss.

"Instead, let's guess directly from the clues we have. You said, based on our father's attitude when he brought his future spouse bleeding into his home to be healed, that you were strongly struck by the idea that Inuyasha was his son." 

"He repeatedly stressed his responsibility for him." Ichirou confirmed. 

"In what other relationships would one have such strong feelings of responsibility?" Jirou asked. "Immediate family members, to be sure. Perhaps the children of allies and best friends.

"If he were the son of such an important ally or friend of the family, we would have heard about him." Ichirou said. 

"But would we have?" Jirou asked. "Hanyous are rare. Given the difference in the expected life spans, yokai never mate humans; they die so quickly. Most hanyou are born from rapes, and since the establishment of the council, all yokai convicted of rape have been executed. Maybe his father hid his existence because he was a child of rape. Maybe the father didn't know the attack had resulted in a child until much later, or at all, and the mother raised him." 

"Mm." Ichirou intoned. "Based on smell and what he and Sesshomaru said when your children dragged him naked to breakfast, he was staying with a human family. This scenario would fit, except it doesn't explain the 'our old man' comment." 

Jirou put an elbow on the armrest and rubbed over his mouth. "That comment would lead one to believe that they are brothers. I know, I know." He said, heading off what Ichirou was about to say. "Given their age, it's an impossibility." 

"It's not impossible that there is such a huge age difference in siblings." Ichirou said, giving a nod. "It's the fact that both of our grandparents were dead before Inuyasha was born." 

There was a knock at the study's door. "You may enter." Ichirou said. Sei walked in, eyes shining with a mischievousness. "Mother told me to announce that dinner was ready to you once I was done cleaning up so we could enter the dining room together." He said. 

"And how much faster did you manage to clean yourself up before your brothers?" Jirou asked. When Sei didn't respond immediately, he asked, "Do I need to let Hiiro out of a locked room?"

Sei ducked his head. "No father." 

"Your siblings are safe, and perfectly able to prepare and be down here for dinner within a reasonable amount of time?" Jirou asked. 

"Yes, father." Sei responded. "They are just... slower." 

Assured his other children were not in danger, Jirou said, "Fine, you may stay with us until your brothers come down as well and we will all go to dinner." 

"Thank you, father." Sei said, and took a seat a respectful distance away.

Jirou turned his attention back to the conversation at hand. He rubbed at his mouth some more. "At the council meeting though, he said he wasn't sure of his own age, partially because he had been spelled and pinned to a tree for fifty years." 

"Yes." Ichirou said. 

"Could he have been pinned longer than that?" Jirou mused. 

"Are you talking about Giri no Otosan?" Sei asked. 

"Giri no...." Jirou trailed off, clearly confused.

"Inuyasha." Sei clarified. Ichirou frowned. It wasn't appropriate that the children know they had been discussing their father's mate. "I think he's named after a powerful hanyou."

"And who was this powerful hanyou?" Jirou asked, stressing the word "powerful," in a sarcastic manner. 

"In history class we learned about the Forest of Inuyasha." Sei said. "There was a powerful hanyou named Inuyasha who crossed a priestess." He looked at his father and uncle and when they said nothing he continued. "The legend goes that he was after the Shikon no Tama in order to gain more power, and when he stole it, the miko tracked him down and shot him with an arrow that had a powerful spell on it. It bound him to the tree and made him sleep for a hundred years. The ningen, and even the other yokai, left him alone, afraid that if they woke him up, he would tear them apart in a rage because the miko had bested him and taken the Shikon no Tama back. It's said that if you made too much noise when passing through a certain part of the forest, Inuyasha would wake up enough to stir, and the forest echoed with his growls." 

"Ah." Ichirou said. "That's just a myth; a tale to explain the sounds the ningen would hear in the forest." 

Jirou, however, shot a thoughtful look at his brother. "How was the hanyou so powerful in the first place?" He asked Sei. "Who were his parents?" 

Sei scrunched his nose. "I don't know. We just had to know the story for school. Whether it's true or not, the legend is still why that part of the forest is named so." 

Jirou, who had leaned forward for the story, sat back. "Instead of waiting, Sei, go get your brothers. Help them if you have to." He ordered. 

Sei pouted. "Yes, father." He left the room. 

Neither brother spoke for a moment. "What are the odds that a hanyou named Inuyasha who was pinned to a tree for a long time would have been named, at birth, the same name as a hanyou who was pinned to a tree for a long time?" Jirou asked. Ichirou stood up and went over a section of the bookcases that lined two walls of the study, floor to ceiling. "If that Inuyasha is somehow the same Inuyasha, then we won't have the problem of the timing of his birth - he could be brother to our father. That would make them immediate family members, which would explain the emotional and dutiful motivations for father saving his life. It would explain why our father was so protective." Jirou continued as Ichirou perused the books, his finger tracing along the bottom of the characters on the spines of the books.

"Yes, that would explain everything." Ichirou said dryly. "Except the time travel." 

Jirou stood up and went to his side. "We don't know how long he was pinned. He doesn't know how long he was pinned. The legend doesn't know how long he was pinned. We don't know what spell was used. Asleep, for many decades, under a powerful spell. Even if his body did age some, he would still act like a kid, immature. He would be even more immature than expected because he had no one to be with him. He would have no idea of social practice; he was alone." 

"You sound like you're already convinced." Ichirou said, selecting five books and carrying them to the table. He flipped one open and the smell of old book permeated the air. He skipped to the glossary. 

"Think about it. He's spelled during the feudal era. He sleeps for hundreds of years and when he wakes, when the spell wears out, it's the modern era, or close to it, and he's confused. Everyone he knew has died. He has no one to go to. As a hanyou, he might not have even known who his father was. He could have been raised by his mother. Not knowing what else to do, he finds himself a human family and lives with them. He doesn't know the council exists. Maybe someone in the family, some ningen he knows, is raped, and that's why he goes off killing rapists."

"I had never heard of the legend Sei told us before today, and I have never heard of a spell that could trap a yokai or a hanyou in sleep for hundreds of years." Not finding what he was looking for, Ichirou shut the first book and moved on to the second. 

"Of course, that leaves us wondering how our father found out about him, about being related to him." Jirou continued, voicing his thoughts. "Maybe he didn't know of him, but when he found him so injured, he could smell it. Or, he knew of him, and hadn't been able to break the spell. Or..." he drew out the word, "he knew him, and didn't care enough to break the spell, and when Inuyasha was free, he didn't know it."

"Here." Ichirou said suddenly. Jirou peered down at the book. 

It was a list of known half demons, sorted by the names of their famous fathers. The author or historian had only bothered to include the scion of the most famous yokai. The dragon Ryu had five hanyou children, two of which survived to relatively old age. They had been famous blacksmiths, given they could breathe fire. To their surprise, under Inu no Taicho, there was the name Inuyasha. The history beside the name was: "The Forest of Inuyasha is named after the only known hanyou son of Inu no Taicho. He was cursed, bound to a tree after his father's death."

The brothers stared at the text. "That still doesn't confirm it." Ichirou said. 

"Just because we don't know all the answers, doesn't mean it isn't true." Jirou responded. "Too many things line up."

"If he is our father's brother, why didn't father say so? If he had claimed him as his brother, not his mate, the council would not have dared to kill him." Ichirou stated. 

"Who would believe it?" Jirou asked. "You don't believe it." He tapped the book. "Almost no one writes about or care about hanyous. They're only mentioned here, at the back of this ancient, forgotten tome in reference to their fathers. The story Sei told us is passed as a myth. You're going to say the name, and everything is a coincidence, and you're the one who saw father's concern and need to take responsibility first-hand." He walked away and plopped back in his chair. "No one would believe it." He repeated. "That's why father had to take him as a mate in order to save his life. Think about it. If you accept this, everything matches up, from his ability to fight like a maniac, to his lack of social skills." 

Ichirou let out a breath through his nose loudly. "This pre-tree Inuyasha must not have been able to fight 'like a maniac' if a ningen priestess bound him so thoroughly to a tree." 

"We all learn from our mistakes." Jirou smiled, and then frowned. "Would you save me if I were bound to a tree?"

There was a knock on the study door. "Enter." Ichirou called out. 

Sei opened the door. "We're ready, uncle, father." 

"Very well." Ichirou said, re-shelving the books. Jirou stood up and as a group they walked towards the dining room. 

"You never answered my question." Jirou said. 

"It depends on how much time I could get off work." Ichirou answered. They sat down at the table with Sesshomaru at the head. Hiiro got up again to help Yuki serve the dishes. 

"Hey," Yuki said as she put a bowl of miso in front of an empty seat, "where's Inuyasha?"


	16. Chapter Sixteen: Apologies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Inuyasha checks in on Kagome's family before he plans to disappear.

Inuyasha ducked behind a building. Turned out the graffiti on it was fresh and the smell almost overwhelmed him. He covered the bottom half of his face with his sleeve and risked peering out again. "Bastards." He cursed. He hadn't realized there were so many freaking yokai in modern Japan. He was pretty sure Sesshomaru hadn't sounded the alarm bells yet. Guy was probably too proud to announce that his "mate" had run away. Still, he wasn't about to go prancing down the main street. Most yokai didn't have enough power to pass as human, but, then again, they didn't need to in order to blend in to the environment. Plenty of wildlife were attracted to the trash in the city and made nests on top of buildings or slipped into the cracks of infrastructure. Bird yokai seemed to be the most populous. 

A pigeon cooed behind him and he jumped. "Freaking bird!" He yelled, stomped, chased it away. His stomach growled and he sneezed as the paint smell went up his nostrils unimpeded by his sleeve. He grit his teeth. He had traveled the forest in a flash, taking care to wash thoroughly in the sea before heading off, and going out of the way to jump in every stream and puddle to break the trail of his scent. Speed was important and city traveling had been slow. Of course, Kagome's family lived near the center of the freaking city. 

A bird sound made him look up to find a hawk yokai perched on the edge of a roof, looking down with its head cocked, one beady black eye peering at him. Inuyasha jumped straight up at it. It squawked in surprise, wings beating furiously as it backpedaled away from the ledge and the sudden looming figure of an angry hanyou. Inuyasha caught it. It fought for a minute, feet kicking, neck twisting as it tried to gouge him with its talons and beak. 

"Calm your shit." Inuyasha complained. "I'm not going to kill you." 

It settled, angry eyes looking him up and down. "Crimson samuari," the hawk yokai spoke, "you have never been interested in talking with your fan base before."

"What? My fan base?" Inuyasha asked, incredulous. "What are you talking... Why did you call me that?"

"We read the papers." The hawk yokai responded in a mid-tone voice with a rasp at the end of its sentences. "And Mike likes to watch the news by peering into that house on 6th street. He also likes to poop on their car. The neighborhood cat got a little too close a couple times, so he leaves a message."

Inuyasha snorted. "Whatever. Just don't follow me."

The hawk yokai twisted his head to focus on him with one eye, chest feathers puffing up. "Humans are the top predators in the normal world. I think it's parcially because they're so likable. A guy offers you a couple rodents one week, the next week, you've got a leash and hood on, and you're taking all of your rabbit kills to him for him to eat because he scratches your beak and calls you a good birdie." Inuyasha raised his eyebrows. "My cousin Takashi." The hawk yokai said by way of explanation. "He went to explore the world and ended up in Mongolia." 

"Yeah." Said Inuyasha, confused and not caring about any of this, but purposeful with his intention to impress on the yokai that he would not tolerate any further shadowing. 

"Humans are top predators and usually very cooperative with each other. They even sucker animals like dogs and the occasional yokai to do work for them. And all the yokai here are weak. The top yokai all mind the laws set by the council. To see humans prey on humans, that is rare. And then to see a hanyou prey on the predatory human... Hanyous are rare enough, but a hanyou with more power than most yokai was never heard of. Add the fact you openly break the council's laws." The hawk yokai continued.

"You're not making any sense, bird brain." Inuyasha interjected. "I don't care what you think about humans and yokai power. Don't watch me. Don't follow me." He threw the raptor up in the air, releasing it. 

It bobbed in the air alarmed, before it righted itself. "How noble you are, sir." 

Inuyasha bristled. "Was that an insult?" 

"No, no." It replied. "I respect the predator of predators." It couldn't keep itself in the air without moving, so it landed on the roof a respectable distance away.

"What the hell are you going on about?" Inuyasha said, a snarl undertone to his words. He flexed his hands, showing off his claws. "Just keep away and don't follow."

The raptor pulled its head back, making a ripple of feathers around its neck. "I don't follow." It said. "I notice."

"What?" Inuyasha asked.

"Bright hair." It responded with a head twitch. "Shiny." Inuyasha frowned. He had lost his navy baseball hat. "Bright body. Like fresh blood." Inuyasha looked down at his bright red fire rat robes. Red was an auspicious color; it was good luck. As a young, orphaned hanyou, he had needed all the good luck he could get. It hadn't caused him problems before. Then again, he hadn't needed to hide from a thousand eyes in a city before. 

"Yeah, yeah." He said, "fine." He considered whether he should roll around in mud. As he was looking down, the hawk yokai flew at him suddenly, feet first. "Hey!" Inuyasha yelled. It let out a cry of success and took off. "Fuck you!" Inuyasha yelled after it, rubbing his head. In its talons, it grasped a few strands of his hair. He glared. It wasn't worth chasing after the thing. He had a mission to accomplish. He dropped back down into the alley. 

Half an hour later, Kagome's mom answered the door. "Inuyasha?" She gasped.

"Yeah, let me in." He hissed. She stepped back to one side and he slunk in. "Close the door!" 

"Why do you have a pizza box?" She asked. The door snicked shut. 

"It's a disguise." He said. 

"...By wearing on top of your head?" She asked, watching him take the box off. 

"Isn't that how the pizza delivery guys do it?" Inuyasha responded, sliding the slightly greasy box off his hair. He had come to the door with it opened, the top resting face-up on top of his head, the bottom of the box still attached, covering some of his hair down his back. 

"...No... Never mind." She decided. She smiled at him. She had more wrinkles around her eyes than he remembered and she smelled like stress. "It's good to see you." 

He smiled back. "Yeah. Listen, I've gotta go away for a while. I won't be able to check in like I usually do."

She clasped her hands in front of her. "What do you mean? You were just gone for a while. We hadn't seen you in a month!" 

"I know." Inuyasha said, looking at the floor. "Look, I got into some demon trouble, and it's nothing I can't handle, and I made a deal to make sure you guys would be safe, but I gotta go." 

"Where are you going?" She asked. 

"Um." He said. He shuffled his feet.

"Why don't I pack you a bento box?" She offered. 

"Sure." He followed her to the kitchen. "Thanks." 

"If you tell me what you're running from, I might be able to help you figure out where to go." She said as she opened drawers and gathered things. 

"A giant ass." He said. 

"Inuyasha." She scolded. 

He settled. "My brother." She stopped scraping rice out of the rice cooker. "My half-brother." He clarified. "He's a full demon. They live a long time." 

"So, he's... a full dog demon?" She asked, plopping the rice into the bento box. 

"Yeah. He kept trying to kill me back in the feudal era because I was a hanyou and 'a smear to our father's name.'" He scoffed. "Now he says he wants to take care of me and locked me in his house. But I got out." 

Her brow furrowed. "He tried to kill you?"

"He put his hand through my stomach. Whenever he came across me, he knocked me back on my ass." Inuyasha said, his voice growing louder. 

"Sounds like something a brother would do." She said. 

"What?" He exclaimed. 

"The knocking you on your butt, thing, not the stomach thing. My brother would tease me all the time." She said. "He would pull my hair. He told me everything I made tasted disgusting; that I was ugly." Inuyasha growled lowly. "Years later, only when we were adults, did he apologize. He told me he said all that stuff because he didn't want me finding a guy and never coming home to play with him." 

"He gouged one of my eyes out!" He yelled.

She was quiet for a couple seconds. "How quickly did you heal?" She asked. 

He was quiet for a second before he said, "a couple of hours." 

"Could he have killed you?" She asked.

"What?"

"Could he have really killed you?" She repeated.

He thought for a second. "He killed things stronger than me. And he helped me kill Naraku. But it's not like he didn't try to kill me! I always fought him off. I even cut off one of his arms." 

"You cut off his arm?" She exclaimed in surprise. "Did he heal?"

"Yeah, but it took him a couple centuries. He still bitches about it." He responded.

Ms. Higurashi swallowed. "But he never killed you." She said, cutting up carrots. "And he could have. You two always healed from the injuries, and, didn't you get stronger from fighting him?" He narrowed his eyes. She saw his anger. "It's not bad that someone is trying to take care of you." She said. "Inuyasha, you don't know how worried I've been about you."

He clenched the counter. "He branded me." He emphasized the word "branded." "He burned a spell into my skin to keep me trapped." 

"Trapped where?" She asked. 

"His freaking mansion!" He yelled. 

Mrs. Higurashi looked at him from the corners of her eyes. "Were you in the mansion... dungeon?" She asked. "Do mansions have dungeons?"

"Keh. The whole thing is awful." Inuyasha said, standing on one foot and using the other to scratch his leg. He had left finger-sized dents in the countertop. 

"And why did he trap you? What happens when you get out?" She asked. "What's so bad that he did that to keep you in?"

He crossed his arms and leaned against the cabinets. "The other demons said they would track me down and kill me." He sniffed.

She dumped the freshly-cut carrots into boiling water and turned to look at him. At her look he said, "that's why I need to go away for a while."

"Oh, dear. Why do they want to kill you?" She asked, getting eggs out of the fridge.

"Apparently the demons in Japan have a council thing and rules and things, and I broke them by fighting the rapist pigs." He said. She sighed again. "They wanted to kill me right away. Sesshomaru caught me when I was hurt and dragged me in front of their council because of supposed... rules." He finished blithely. "But he... spoke for me and they agreed I could just be basically put in jail instead for 200 years."

"Jail? I thought you were in his house." She said. The eggs sizzled on the pan.

"Same thing." He grumbled. "They're punishing me for helping people! It's bad enough Sesshomaru and I are in the same country. I can't stand being in the same house." She got a drawstring bag from under the counter and put some instant ramen packets in it. The food smelled good. "He wants me to be part of his family." He said.

She rolled up the omelet she had made with a pair of long chopsticks. "That doesn't sound bad."

He responded, "you haven't met his kids." She put the omelet beside the rice in the bento box and stirred the carrots. "Hey, where is oji-san?" He asked about her father, the old priest. "Shota is at school, right?"

Her lips pursed. 

"My father is at a nursing home. We... couldn't afford the best one. He needs more help than I can give. He's so old, he doesn't really know what's going on. I take the paper prayer ribbons to him and he likes to hold them. We only found out they were abusive after I noticed the bruises on him. They hit him where his clothes cover it up. I saw it after he had been there a couple weeks when I visited him - I visit him three times a week - and was rubbing lotion on his arms. We thought we were doing the right thing. Taking him somewhere there was always medical help available and where he can socialize with people his own age. 

"Of course, I wanted to take him out right away and report the company, but when my husband and I went to speak to the nursing home director, he was very pleasant at first, said it was a misunderstanding, but that it would be taken care of, but we couldn't take him out because we had signed a contract. 

"He promised he would fire the person responsible and that was that. But," she strained the carrots, "the next month he had fresh bruises.

"We made an appointment to talk to him again, and then his secretary called and said the appointment had to be postponed because something important came up in his schedule, and then... The appointment kept getting pushed back. Finally when we threatened to find a lawyer, he met with us. He showed us paperwork. The same company that owns the nursing home owns the company my husband works for. He said if we tried to sue, they would make life difficult for us. They could fire Mr. Higurashi, give him a bad reference and make sure the only work he'd be able to find was digging in public trash bins for plastic bottles to collect and recycle for the five cent reward. We wouldn't be able to support Shota. We'd lose the family shrine.

"My husband and I said, fine, we wouldn't sue, but we wanted my father out of there. We wouldn't say a word to anyone else. He said it would look bad if he allowed a patient to leave after only a few weeks; we have to wait until the year's contract is up. So," she said and her voice broke, "I visit him every day." She tipped her head down to hide her face as she wrapped the bento box up and put it in the cloth bag along with a pair of chopsticks in a box that could slide open and closed. 

Inuyasha tested the sharpness of his pointer finger claw by pressing it against the pad of his thumb. "What does this guy look like?"

"No." She said, and sniffed back a tear. "You can't kill him. You have enough to worry about." She cinched the bag closed and the silver in her hair showed. "I shouldn't have told you."

"I don't have to kill him." He said, stressing the verb. "I'll just scare him a little." 

"No." She said.

"Hey, you're my family more than Sesshomaru is." He said. "If you don't tell me, I'll sniff around until I find him." 

"But that'll put you at risk! No, Inuyasha! I won't be responsible for your death! You have to go like you said! We'll be fine. If you care about us at all, you'll go now, so I'll know you'll be safe and so I won't have one more thing to worry about!" 

He countered. "I can't leave knowing you're in trouble!" 

"And don't you think we'd still be in trouble if suddenly the person who threatened us disappears or is hurt? They'll think we hired someone and they might retaliate! They could hire someone and you'll be gone by then. Those yokai you mentioned could have even killed you by then!"

"I haven't died, yet, woman!" He bristled. 

"No, Inuyasha." She said sadly. "You don't understand. They're powerful. They have money and lawyers."

"Shit." He said and sat down. He crossed his arms and his legs and made a face like what he was going to say next was painful. "I know a lawyer."

"You... know a lawyer?" She asked, sounding incredulous. 

He scowled and stood up suddenly. He grasped her upper arms and then rubbed his face against hers. "Inuyasha?" She squeaked. He sniffed her and rubbed against her again, and sniffed her again. 

"There." He pronounced. "Go to the Nishimura Law Firm. Tell them you need to speak to Ichirou; that you know me. He'll help you." 

She stared at him, eyes wide. "B-but." He took the drawstring cloth bag with the food in it. "Tell him that if they ever want to see me again, they'll help you."

"B-but, how will I get in contact with you?" She asked. "In-in case they don't help."

"I'll check in on you." 

"You can't! They'll know you'll do it and they'll be watching or they'll set a trap." She said.

"Keh, they wouldn't catch me." Begrudgingly, he added, "but you have a point" in a lower tone.

"Here," she said, and dug out an old flip phone from her apron pocket. "This is my phone. I'll call you from my husband's phone."

"Uh." He said. "I saw Kagome with one of these... once."

"If it rings, makes a sound, you open it, like this." She demonstrated. 

"Like a clam?" He said.

"Yes, and I'll talk to you through it. When we're done talking, you close it again, like this." She closed the phone. "That's all you have to do. Oh! But you have to charge it." She bustled over to the small table by the door and picked up a cord with a small box attached to it at the end. The box had three metal prongs sticking out. "Every other day, the phone has to charge. Um," she said at the blank look on his face. "It's kind of like eating. The phone has to eat energy so it stays alive."

"Oh, okay." He said. 

"Now you have to be gentle with this." She said firmly. "This end goes here." She plug the smaller end of the cord into a hole at the bottom of the phone. "And this end you have to plug into one of these." She pushed the prongs into a matching port in the wall. "You can find them in houses, coffee shops, schools, libraries, restaurants... basically, any building. Will you have a problem... feeding it?" She asked. 

"Nah." He scoffed. "It's simple enough." 

"Just don't break it. You have to be very gentle with it. Like it's a sea shell." She looked him up and down. "Do you have any other clothes?"

"No." He crossed his arms. "I like my clothes."

"You are very noticeable in those." She commented. He remembered what the bird had said and frowned.

That's how Inuyasha ended up in a pair of jeans and a dark navy v-neck t-shirt. Shota was now in high school and close to his size though Inuyasha was a little taller and had more muscle. His head was too big to fit Shota's baseball caps, so Mr. Higurashi's hat, dark gray with a black ribbon around the brim, completed the look. He refused to wear shoes. His fire rat robes fit in the bag with the food.

"You look like a model." Mrs. Higurashi said. 

He fidgeted. "I can't fit my disguise over the hat."

"Your dis-" She started saying, inquisitive," oh, the pizza box." She realized. "This is your new disguise." She said. "And with this, you won't find more anchovies in your hair."

"Oh." He said. She walked him to the door and he rubbed his face against her again. 

"This Ichirou person will definitely help us?" She asked. "He'll be able to smell you?"

"Yeah." He said. He remembered what the hawk yokai had done. As a precaution he snagged a few strands of hair and pulled. "And if he doesn't believe you, show him this." He lifted her hand and deposited the strands of hair in her palm. "Only show this to Nishimura Ichirou, don't let anyone else get it."

"Okay." She said and nodded. "Thank you." 

She opened the door for him. 

"Hello." Jirou stood in the doorway, looking at him. Inuyasha felt his blood drain from his face. Jirou looked at Mrs. Higurashi. "How nice to meet you." 

Inuyasha reached over and slammed the door in his face. He raced up the stairs to Kagome's old room, opened the window, and bolted. Sesshomaru was waiting on the ground. An acid-green whip wrapped around his ankle as he flew off the roof and brought him crashing down.

A mouth full of dirt, Inuyasha said, "we really have to stop doing this." 

He kicked and jack-knifed himself to a standing position. "Okay." He said, hands held out, palms down in a non-threatening gesture. "Let's not fight. I'll just walk away." 

Sesshomaru stood on the side walk in a well-tailored, thousand-dollar suit that showed off his broad shoulders. His eyes glittered even though he stood calmly in a relaxed posture, holding the handle of the whip loosely in his left hand. He didn't even twitch as Inuyasha backed away slowly until the whip, which was still wrapped around his ankle, pulled tight. 

"I don't know how you did it, Inuyasha." Sesshomaru said. Inuyasha heard Jirou walk over and he angled himself so he could see him out of the corner of his eye. 

"But it's cool, right?" Inuyasha said. "You said even the old man would have a problem fighting the brand and look at me, I got out, no problem." He smirked. "Maybe I'm just stronger. You should be careful." He warned. Sesshomaru didn't say anything. Off put, Inuyasha observed him. His pupils were dilated and he was breathing slightly faster than necessary. "You don't have any of those taser things, do you?" Inuyasha asked, suspicious. It didn't look like he had anything in his pockets. 

"I don't." Sesshomaru confirmed. 

"Nng!" Two pin pricks sliced into his back. Agony shot thorough him again. His muscles seized.

"Jirou does." Sesshomaru said. He walked over to him. "It is set at a high level to render you unconscious, just like the last time." Inuyasha's body buzzed with the current. He wanted to lash out. "Once you are out, I will pick you up and carry you over my shoulder as Jirou pulls the car around. I will take you back home and put you in a puppy cage." Inuyasha's curses were trapped behind his teeth. His vision went black. "And then you will tell me how you got out." 

That was the last thing Inuyasha heard for a while. 

When he woke up, the first thing he registered was how his body ached. One day, he was going to find whomever had invented the taser and shove it up their ass. He breathed slowly. It smelled like... It smelled like Sesshomaru, damn it.  
He opened his eyes slightly and saw thin, black bars, criss-crossed in a grid pattern. He blinked. His chest ached. Looking beyond the bars, he was in Sesshomaru's bed room. Double damn it. There was no gaping hole in the wall, so the contractors must have finished the repairs. He sat up and the tip of his ears brushed the top of the... cage. Frick. Red prayer seals were stuck to the outside of the large black dog crate. Sesshomaru sat at a dark wood table within view. He tried to rub his face and discovered his hands were cuffed behind his back. He glared. "Are you happy now?" He asked, and rubbed his face on his shoulder. 

"How did you get out?" Sesshomaru asked. 

"Why don't you stuff a dick in your mouth?" Inuyasha shot back. 

"Why do you fight me when you know this is the only way you can live?" Sesshomaru asked.

"How do you not get that I want my freedom?" He yelled. 

"You can't be free if you're not alive!" Sesshomaru stated. 

Inuyasha snarled. "Ass-sucker."

"You wish." He responded. He looked Inuyasha up and down. The tight jeans showed off his long legs. There was a small space between the jeans and where his shirt had rucked up on his flat tummy, showing off white skin. His arms, corded with muscle, were held captive. His eyes were drawn to the top of Inuyasha's head as his ears twitched. "How did you get out?"

"I pushed through the barrier." He said. 

"How?"

"Go to hell." 

Sesshomaru stared at him. "How about a trade? What do you want in exchange for telling me how you got out?"

"I don't want anything from you." Inuyasha said and lay back. 

After a few minutes of silence, Sesshomaru said something that surprised the hell out of Inuyasha: "I'm sorry."

At first, Inuyasha didn't react. Then he sat up suddenly. "What did you say?"

"I'm sorry. I know you held no desire to be a part of this situation. I know you were not meting out justice willy-nilly, but, instead, serving more as law enforcement in a manner no one else could and that your actions saved lives. I'm sorry that you're being punished for your meritorious actions. 

"You see me as your jailor, and that perspective isn't unwarranted. Yet, I want you to know that while I serve as your jailor, I don't do so happily. I would much more happily serve as only your husband, your blooded mate."

Inuyasha's jaw dropped. 

"And you're so young, you probably don't know or, rather, aren't able to believe, that I did live with a few hundred years of remorse; regret for treating you how I did in my adolescence. As my wife told me though, when I confided in her, and, as my sons later showed me, almost everyone tends to be a dick when they're a teenager. In a way, I had a couple hundred years of punishment myself for my actions during my adolescence. My actions were decidedly more selfish than yours.

"So, I apologize." Sesshomaru stated. 

Inuyasha's jaw stayed dropped. 

"However, do not think I regret saving your life. Do not think I regret mating you. I wish it had happened under different circumstances. And do not think I will not continue to serve as your jailor in order to save your life." 

It was quiet. You could have heard a pin drop. 

"You admitted you're a dick." Inuyasha said. 

"Were." He clarified. 

"And who put who in an actual dog cage?" Inuyasha asked.

"You ate through my bed." Sesshomaru said. "You Houdini-ed your way out of an extremely strong, expensive spell without a trace." He sat forward. "I'm of half a mind to make you stay in there."

Inuyasha huffed and lay back down; turned his head so he could still watch his brother. "See? Still a dick." He said. He couldn't stretch out his legs. He wondered if he could chew through the bottom of the crate when Sesshomaru was asleep. He looked at the top of the crate as he raised his knees and shifted his weight. 

"Well, Inuyasha, it is midnight and I do have work tomorrow." Sesshomaru said. Inuyasha's ears flicked at hearing metal clicking sounds. "You have thus far refused to tell me how you escaped." Right now he was refusing to look at him as he walked closer. "And now that you've said goodbye to your pet humans, I don't fancy having to chase you all over Japan. This will ensure we both get a good night's sleep."

"What?" He wiped his head around to see Sesshomaru holding a gun-like device with a clear chamber that held several extremely colorful darts with red tuffs at the ends. There were two small barks of sound and Inuyasha looked down to see two darts sticking in his thigh. "You bastard!" He cursed, wrenching at his cuffed hands. He sat up to pull out the darts with his teeth when a wave of vertigo hit him and he went down. "Uhh." He rolled on his side, facing Sesshomaru. "Still a dick." He slurred, his breathing smoothing out and his eyelids dropping. 

Sesshomaru waited until he was asleep. "I know."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a monster chapter! So many important things happened. Please let me know what you guys think.


	17. Chapter Seventeen: The Cat's Outta the Bag

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The cat's out of the bag about Inuyasha's and Sesshomaru's relationship. Or, maybe it would be more accurate to say the half demon dog is out of the well?

Inuyasha woke up, still in the dog crate. His head swam. Something smelled different. It smelled like carpet and feet. He opened his eyes a sliver. He couldn't figure out what he was looking at. There was a continuous, light clicking noise that reminded him of roaches scattering when he went near a dumpster. The clicking stopped and papers shuffled. He opened his eyes a bit more. That was a foot in a shiny black patent leather, wing-tip shoe. And connected to it was a leg in a navy pants. He rolled from being on his side to being on his back, his shoulders on the floor. His vision swam with the movement and he closed his eyes. "Ugh." How was he still tired?

"There's a water bottle for you." A voice said. Inuyasha peered up blearily. It took him a minute. He sat up, using the wall of the crate as support because his hands were still cuffed behind him. There was indeed a water bottle in the crate with him. And his crate was on the floor, behind Sesshomaru's desk, next to his chair. He shook his head as if to shake off the vestiges of sleepiness. 

"How..." He started to ask how he had been transported without his waking up, but his question was answered before he finished asking it. There was a third dart sticking out of his leg. That would also explain why he was still so out of it. 

"I'm not un-cuffing you. You can figure out a way to drink it. After all, you are very creative." Sesshomaru said, his voice flat.

"Uh." Inuyasha said. "'Mm not telling you."

"That's fine. But you're staying in the crate."

"S'a dog crate." Inuyasha observed. 

"Very good. Keen observational skills. You'll make a great lawyer some day." Sesshomaru said. 

"I, I'm a lawyer?" He asked, words still slurred a bit.

Sesshomaru looked down at him. "You can become one, if you want to. I had thought you'd take the more traditional wifely route and become involved with charities and the like. Or, maybe you could start a business, your own dojo, teaching self defense." 

"Defend this." Inuyasha slurred, chin hitting his chest. 

"I'm trying to, you idiot." Sesshomaru said to Inuyasha. When he didn't respond, he looked down. "Mm. I may have made the darts too strong." he observed. Inuyasha was back asleep. He resumed tying.

The next time Inuyasha woke, the first thing he noticed was that something smelled like salt water. His eyelids fluttered open and he was looking directly at Lord Kai. 

"You know, Sesshomaru, the fact that he's cuffed, caged, and has tranquillizer darts in him only furthers Lord Sasuke's story." She said thoughtfully. Sesshomaru said nothing. She stood up gracefully. Her silk clothes, all in hues of blue whispered with her movements. "So, the brand failed." 

"The brand held. He tried to go through the barrier, over it, under it, for three days." Sesshomaru said. Moko-moko, which had been absent for the past few days was back on his shoulder and it seemed fluffier than ever. 

"And the fourth day?" She asked. 

"By the end of the fourth day, he was in the dog crate." He responded. She smiled. 

Inuyasha's eyes narrowed. He hated it when people talked about him like he wasn't there.

"You're the only council member I trust to know this." Sesshomaru said. "Will you help me figure out the loophole?" 

"No," she said, "yet I will give you a charm so you may always find each other."

"Should I heat up the forge?" Inuyasha asked, catty, from the cage, angry that she had been in the room, looking at him, talking about him, apparently, and he had only just woken up. 

Kai smiled at him. Her teeth were pointed. The delicate lines that ran across her neck fluttered, reminding him of gills. "For this charm to work, you both have to want it. Unlike your brand, this is not about possession, but connection." 

"I don't think that will work." Sesshomaru said. 

Simultaneously, Inuyasha said, "I'll do it." Sesshomaru raised an eyebrow at him. "I'll do it." He repeated. 

"You don't have much time, Lord Sesshomaru." Kai said. "Lord Sasuke and Lord Sado should be here soon."

Sesshomaru said nothing, but ripped off the sealing spell on the dog crate. Immediately, Inuyasha pushed on the cage door with his shoulder. "Ouch!" He yelled. Sesshomaru had only taken off the seal on top of the cage. There were still seals on each side of the cage. 

"Have patience." Sesshomaru said as he took off the seal on the side with the door. "What is this charm?" He asked Kai. She fished two small red pouches from the folds in her obi and deposited one in the palm of his hand. 

A giant screech of metal and some popping, scraping sounds, made both diayokai jump. Instead of waiting for Sesshomaru to open the cage door, or figuring out how to do it with his hands behind his back, Inuyasha had gotten his feet under him, hunched his shoulders, and stood up, busting through the top of the dog crate. Without his fire rat robes, however, the cage left bloody scratches across his shoulders and arms. His shirt was only hanging onto his body by a couple threads. 

As a response to the looks from both yokai, Inuyasha said, "Patience is for losers." The cuts were already healing, but the shirt was doomed.

"Are you sure you don't have tiger yokai blood in you?" Kai asked. 

"Uh, human and dog." Inuyasha said, stepping free of the crate. The sharp grasping ends of the metal tugged on him as he left. "Why can't I bust these cuffs?" 

"How many favors are you going to owe Lord Sado for borrowing his equipment?" Kai asked Sesshomaru as he revealed a small key on a thin chain around his neck and motioned for Inuyasha to turn around.

"He said an explicit story of one of our nights together would be payment." Sesshomaru replied, unlocking the cuffs. Inuyasha sputtered. "However, I informed him such things were private matters, but that I would be willing to attend one of his parties." He said. 

"That is fitting." Kai responded and held out the second red pouch for Inuyasha as he rubbed his wrists. He imagined Sesshomaru sipping tea from a fancy English tea cup with his pinkie sticking out. Yeah, that seemed more of Sesshomaru's style. He took the pouch and sniffed it. "Each pouch has half of something that was whole: a shell, a coin, a bone, a tooth, a scale. That is not to say that you two aren't separate entities, but that you can't serve your purpose well without each other. What can a shell protect when its other side is gone? What can you buy with half a coin - half a stick of gum? It symbolizes that you are better together, and meant to be together. So long as you each have a pouch, and so long as you each will it, you will be able to find one and other." 

Inuyasha stuffed his in his pants pocket. "Keh. Simple." He said. "So what's going on? Why do we need these?"

"Lord Sasuke claims he has knowledge and proof that you escaped your bonds and were wandering freely. He is coming here to assert his claim and fittingly have you bound and imprisoned in a place better capable of holding you for the remainder of your 200 year sentence." Sesshomaru stated. 

"Please." Inuyasha drew the word out. "What proof could he have?"

"I hoped you would tell me." Sesshomaru said. 

Inuyasha scratched his head. "I don't know." 

"If he does have some type of proof, we need to be able to account for it; to have an answer ready." Sesshomaru said. 

"You could always say you trusted me and sent me to get something." Inuyasha proposed. 

"Not with that brand. Kai interjected. 

Inuyasha slapped the back of his neck. "What? Why? You can't see it."

She tapped the middle of her forehead. "I can sense it. Anyone with a sense of magic can."

He scowled. "So what? Everyone at that damned meeting knows about it."

"It is not a brand one would give to someone, and then send that someone out on an errand." She said, closing her eyes. "As I mentioned earlier, it is a brand of possession. It curls around you with grace, like a caress... it is not meant to hurt the bearer. Yet the strength in it... It is meant to last." She finished. 

Inuyasha shot a glare at Sesshomaru who didn't look mollified in the least. 

"We could say we went for a stroll together to visit his pet humans." Sesshomaru said. At Inuyasha's bristling he said, "when we negotiated over their safety, it was in front of a room full of yokai. Their existence and the fact that they are dear to you are both facts of public knowledge. We need not say who they are, where they live, or why they are dear to you." 

"No." Inuyasha growled. "Leave them out of this." 

"That does not sound like the best plan, Inuyasha." Kai said. "You were seen driving there and back. Lord Sasuke's proof might be the eye witness account of seeing you at this ningen house, Inuyasha. You cannot hide this fact.

"By the way, while we talk, it might be good if you, Sesshomaru, sent for new clothes for Inuyasha, and, Inuyasha, you should take the darts out of your leg."

Reminded of the injustice of the tranquilizers, Inuyasha yanked them out. "I should stick these in you, you sucker, and see how you like it." He said. 

"We both know you were going to try and chew through the bars and keep us both up all night with the sound of you getting zapped." Sesshomaru said. "I would have been happy to slip you an Ambien if it would have worked."

"No, I wasn't!" Inuyasha protested. "I've been kept in with seals before." He said lowly. "I don't like to be zapped. I was going to try to chew through the bottom of the cage. I didn't think you put a seal there. Did you?" 

Sesshomaru, who had looked slightly angry at the mention of other people sealing him in, didn't reply. 

"Ha. I knew it. You didn't." Inuyasha said. He tossed them to Sesshomaru who caught them just after he hit a button on the white phone on his desk. 

"Yes, Lord Sesshomaru." A soft female voice answered on the phone after one ring.

"Should I add 'floating in midair' to my mental list of your abilities, then?" Sesshomaru asked him. Then, to the phone, he said, "Yes, Rin, please have a set of casual clothes sized for Inuyasha sent to my office as soon as possible."

"Yes, my lord." She replied. "Will that be all?"

"That has the highest priority. Then inform the chefs and the cleaning staff to return to duties as normal by midday today." 

"Yes, my lord." She said, and hung up.

"Oh." Kai said, a little surprised. "You let them hang up on you?" 

"It's more efficient." Said Sesshomaru. "I can immediately move forward with another task and don't have to press the button."

"I tell my servant what I want. The servants helping him listen when he takes my call, and they set about to immediately do what I request while he still waits on me." Kai said. 

"Your servants have servants?" Inuyasha asked, incredulous.

"Well, they all serve me." Kai said. "Only a few though are allowed to speak with me. It makes it easier." 

"But you can't treat them like they're subhuman!" Inuyasha said to Kai. "You can't just ignore them and not speak to them, and not let them speak when they're right there, like they're invisible and don't matter!

"Lord Kai has a much bigger manor," Sesshomaru said, "and can treat those in her employ how she wishes. If they don't like their work, they are free to leave, I believe. It is not for you, Inuyasha, to judge others' relationships, nor the working order of another great house."

"Working order? What are you talking about?" Inuyasha crossed his arms. "You shouldn't ignore people and make them feel like they're nothing." 

"It's all right, Lord Sesshomaru." Kai said. "I have a feeling we're not actually talking about how I treat my servants. Inuyasha, one day, I will invite you over to my home and you may see how my house functions and whether my servants are satisfied with how they are treated. If you like, you may interact with them and help them go about their daily chores, such as cleaning or preparing food."

"No, he may not." Sesshomaru said. "His idea of cleaning is to spit on it and wipe it with a corner of his clothing, and he burned all the bacon." 

"You could still eat it." Inuyasha grumbled. 

Simultaneously there was a knock on the door and the white phone on the desk let out a small tone. Sesshomaru called out "enter" and pushed the answer button on the phone. "Yes."

"Lord Sesshomaru," said Rin, "the clothes requested are being delivered to you now, the staff will be back on schedule by noon today, and Lord Sasuke and Lord Chad have arrived and are being shown to the sitting room." 

"Thank you, Rin." Sesshomaru responded. A lower level dog yokai whom Inuyasha hadn't seen before entered the room, bowed, paced over to the desk quickly and quietly, placed a bundle of clothes on it, and exited. Inuyasha eyed the bundle. 

"That's not my clothes." He said. 

"Right now your robes and your sword are my insurance that even if you do escape, you'll eventually come back for them." Sesshomaru said. 

"He has a sword?" Kai asked interested piqued. 

"Keh. Yeah." Said Inuyasha. "Ever hear of the Tessaiga?" Sesshomaru seemed to freeze, mid-action of handing the clothes to him, and Kai arched an eyebrow up in surprise. 

"One of the swords of the great Inu Taicho." She said. "That sword was lost to the ages. It was said to be the most powerful sword in existence at the time and could kill a thousand demons with one wave of its blade."

"Yeah, the Wind Scar." Inuyasha said. "And that's not its best move." He boasted. 

Sesshomaru twitched. 

"It's said that Inu Taicho gave each of his sons one of his famous swords." Kai said, looking at Sesshomaru. "You, Lord Sesshomaru, have one, the Tenseiga, the other one of the great Inu Taicho's sword, in addition to the sword of your own making, the Bakusaiga." 

"You are saying nothing that is news." Sesshomaru responded coolly, as though bored by the recitation of fact, and tossed the clothes at Inuyasha's face. "Put them on. We must go see what evidence of your escape the other council members have brought." 

In a bright red button-up polo and dark-washed jeans, with his hair in a pony tail, Inuyasha followed Kai and Sesshomaru into the formal sitting room on the ground floor of the house. He had been convinced to put up his hair to show off the top and sides of the brand as though to say, 'look, I'm harmless.' The strategy of appearing weak disagreed with Inuyasha and rankled him. Sesshomaru worried about the inevitable attitude he was going to spout given the hanyou was once again at a decided disadvantage, in one room with four diayokais all discussing the terms of his imprisonment. He sadly reflected that he hadn't thought to grab a taser. However, Inuyasha seemed to be on his best behavior, which he found strikingly suspicious. 

Greetings exchanged, all of them sat down. Lord Sasuke represented the clan of wolves and was lord of the north. He looked older than the other daiyokai of the council. His face was wrinkled and his white hair was thin and wispy. Lord Sado was a tiger yokai, built like a brick house, and lord of the south.

"Well, Lord Sasuke, what cause does the wolf yokai clan bring forward today to elicit this informal meeting?" Sesshomaru started, acting as though Kai hadn't already informed him. 

"Lord Sesshomaru," wheezed Sasuke, his fuzzy white eyebrows in an angry slant, "I have reason to believe your mate, with or without your permission, has left the boundaries of the grounds of your great house, as is illegal.

"Now, if he has done so with your permission, you are also in violation of the agreement fully decided upon by the whole ruling council of Japan. If he has not done so with your permission, then I am sorry to inform you of the matter. If the former is true, you both must be punished accordingly. If the latter is true, then your mate must serve the rest of his sentence in a more appropriately secure facility." No one else spoke. He continued, "You are a great lord, Lord Sesshomaru. Undoubtedly you could fight whatever punishment that will be meted out, and mayhap you might win in the short term. But with all of Japan against you, eventually you would lose. It is best if you told the truth and accepted punishment fitting the crime as deemed by the council. Justice shall be done." 

Sesshomaru responded. "My blooded mate stands before you, Lord Sasuke. I propose, for your consideration, extrapolations of all three of your hypothetical situations. One, if he had exited the boundaries of this house with my express permission, for a purpose mutually decided upon between us and deemed necessary by us, together, then as his guardian, it would be solely myself who would face council judgment, not him. In that situation, you are erroneous in your logic that he would be punished as well. Two, if he had indeed escaped, as you say, against my will, do you think he would be before you now, in casual clothes, unbound? Would he not have flown as far and as fast as possible with all the desperation of a convict fleeing for his life? Evidence in front of your own nose points out that this second hypothetical situation of yours is untrue. Third, if I were to resist... punishment," he drew out the word, "of whatever type against myself or my mate, which I considered undue and unjust, I consider it amusing to see you think there would be enough of Japan left to 'rise against me.'" 

The room was quiet. 

Inuyasha broke the silence. "Why don't you just whip them out and start rubbing?" Kai looked at him in confusion and budding amazement. "I didn't know these meeting things were a dick measuring contest. It's not boring like I thought." He said. "Though I have to say, it's unlikely that you would win, you old coot." He directed the last sentence at Sasuke. 

The old wolf yokai showed a fang. 

"It was foolish to have this meeting without Lord Chihiro." Sado said. He was sprawling across half a couch, like a big cat. His eyes though, were alert and showed he was not at ease. "Lord Sasuke, we all understand the charge you are leveling at Lord Sesshomaru is not inconsiderable. You do not need to threaten the lord with death and destruction in his own home to convey the gravitas." 

Inuyasha started cleaning his ears out with his right pinkie, bored. 

"Lord Sado and I are of one mind on this." Kai said. "Here, it might be best if we followed the European knight code of chivalry. Lord Sasuke offered the first insult, so he shall offer the first apology. Lord Sesshomaru, as you responded in kind to the insult, you will respond in kind to the apology."

Not yet hiding his fang, Sasuke said, "I should not have implied that civil war between all the yokai of Japan would erupt due to Lord Sesshomaru 's mate, a person in a high social position and looked at by all as an example, broke the law, thought to get away with it, and set national legal precedence."

Sado listened with a serious expression.

"On my part," Sesshomaru said, "I apologize for pointing out the obvious. It was not a compliment to the observational and logic skills of anyone in this room."

Kai's face hardened, like she was trying not to smile. "If Sir Inuyasha did not escape under his own prerogative, a deduction you pointed out, Lord Sesshomaru, we can only assume that he broke the law with your blessing."

"I object." Sesshomaru said. "We are here to determine if a law has been broken. Let Lord Sasuke provide the evidence that proves this. 

"As you all can smell and see, Inuyasha is here before you, serving his sentence. By having him here I have provided evidence that he has not escaped under his own will. Do we all agree that this satisfies the requirements to answer 'no' to Lord Sasuke's second hypothetical situation?"

No one answered for a minute. Sado scratched his chin. Kai stayed still. Finally, Sado said, "To accept this answer requires a judgment of character. Do we judge Sir Inuyasha to be so impulsive and so competent in evasion, that, having escaped, he would not come back and not be caught?"

"He would definitely not return of his own will." Kai said, looking at Inuyasha who, having finished cleaning his ears, was now flicking out dirt from between his toes. 

"Nope." Said Inuyasha. 

"But he is your blooded mate. Why would you not return?" Sasuke asked. His wrinkled face showed consternation. 

"You think I like being bound?" Inuyasha asked, incredulous. "I never asked for..."

Sesshomaru cut him off. "The idea of imprisonment causes his free spirit much pain. It is in his nature to run free, just as it was in the scorpion's nature to sting the turtle." 

"I wonder if it is nature or nurture, given he seems to have been on the run for most of his life before he met you." Kai said. 

"Your tendency to conduct behavioral analysis tied with philosophical questions is endearing." Sesshomaru said. "Yet I still have not heard an answer." 

"This is why you never argue with a lawyer." Sasuke said. "They lead you in circles until you end up at the wrong conclusion." 

Having run out of dirt between his toes, Inuyasha sighed and pulled his knees to his chest to scratch at the grain on his jeans. 

"I think we can give a soft 'no' as an answer to the second hypothetic situation. It does require a character judgment, as Lord Sado said. From the limited interactions with him we all have had, he is obviously impulsive. And from the sheer amount of time it took for him to be caught in the act and captured as a vigilante, despite the slew of yokai looking for him, he is good at evasion." Kai said. 

"Now we must address the situation that bothers me the most." Sado said. "The one in which you condoned breaking the law, Lord Sesshomaru."

"And why would I do that?" Sesshomaru asked. "Why would I endanger my blooded mate? Why would I endanger my position among you as a community leader? All for... what?"

"Maybe to prove that you are above the law; a maverick." Sasuke said. "It is known that even among us, you are powerful."

"It would serve as a power move, a dominatrix move, if you will, to show, as Lord Sasuke said, that you are above the law." Sado said. "The running of our nation, and the protection of our nation from would-be foreign yokai, depends on our harmonious cooperation. For any one of our members to buck the rules which we have all agreed to live by, would cause chaos. This is not acceptable."

"Am I correct in saying that you seem to worry Lord Sesshomaru will cause a coup to turn our oligarchy into a dictatorship?" Kai asked. 

"Yes." Sado said. 

"Then you approach me with what you see as an honorable concern." Sesshomaru replied. "I respect your honorable intentions in regards to addressing concerns for our great country. However, your concerns are not well-founded on truth. I have no desire to be king. It would require too much dedication. I am already satisfied with my status in our society as a community and business leader, and am looking forward to expanding my family with my new mate." Here he smiled. "This is another question of judgment of character. I inform you thusly: it is not my character to do things half way. If I were to break the law, you would either, one, never hear a whispered rumor of the infraction, or, two, absolutely everyone would know as I would be standing my ground with an army at my back." 

Sado chuckled. "I am satisfied." 

"I am not." Said Kai. "I would have Lord Sesshomaru answer the question directly after that claim and pronouncement of character: did you allow or direct Sir Inuyasha to break the law?"

"No, I did not." Sesshomaru answered. 

Kai bowed her head. "Then I am satisfied with this matter. Lord Sasuke?"

"You have always gotten along with the Lord of the West, Lord Kai of the East. Like the ocean that embraces a dog that enjoys shitting in the waves." Both Kai and Sesshomaru stiffened at the insult. "Lord Sado, I expected more of a fight from you, or, as a tiger yokai, have you become fat and lazy on a steady diet of modern accoutrements?"

"Lord Sasuke, I apologize." Kai interrupted, looking at him. "During this whole conversation, I never once noted what I should have: you are in great pain." 

Sasuke's wrinkled face broke, his expression turning sour, not due to disposition, but due to sorrow. He bowed his head to hide his face before they could bear witness to more of his pain. "Do not distract me from my mission, Lord Kai." He rasped. He reached into his robes and pulled out a white cloth pouch, a paw print of a wolf embroidered on it. From the pouch he produced several white strands of hair. "A hawk yokai was found incorporating these hairs into his nest and loudly bragging that they come from a hanyou that they call the predator of predators. He said he spoke with the hanyou himself, in the city. Smell the hairs. They are from Sir Inuyasha. There is no mistake." 

"That bird could have gotten my hair anywhere." Inuyasha said. "I tend to shed in the summer. He would have only bragged about it now because you all made me famous." 

"I maintain my opinion as satisfied on all accounts." Sado announced. "There is simply no logic in the claims."

"I maintain my opinion as satisfied on all accounts." Kai agreed. "I have observed the brand, I have observed the barrier. Both are strong. I do not see a way Sir Inuyasha could have escaped, nor do I see a reason for Lord Sesshomaru to have condoned breaking the law as it is against his interests as a husband, and as a leader."

"Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth." Sasuke said. "There, a quote from one of your beloved westerners, Lord Kai. This hair belongs to Sir Inuyasha. The hawk yokai had no reason to lie. If his boasts of recently meeting him had been simple bragging, he would have quailed and told the truth when a powerful yokai questioned him. However, in a ruling of three, two are against one. I bow to the rule of law, for to not do so would be hippocracy."

"Then it is settled." Sado said. "Lord Sasuke, will you not share with us the reason for your pain so we might help you bare it?" 

"As the afore matter is settled, I have no further reason to hide it." Sasuke said. "My father and mother passed away last night, the honorable Lord Koga and Lady Ayame."

"That is a great sorrow." Kai said. "We will all grieve for your loss." 

"Wait, Koga?" Inuyasha said. "He just died?" 

"The Shikon no Tama that Lord Koga used in his youth, gifted him with long life." Sesshomaru said. 

"Oh, yeah. I didn't know it worked like that, too." Inuyasha said. "Wolf-cub always called me 'mutt face." He would make those damned tornadoes running around so fast with those jewel shards in his legs, and thought he was so smart, but you could see the tornadoes from miles away. They always got dirt and leaves in my hair." He complained. "He wasn't a bad fighter. Ginta and Hakkaku were funny, chasing after him all the time. They were pretty pathetic at fighting. I proved I was the better man and got Kagome, though. He wasn't afraid of nothing. Except Naraku. But everyone was afraid of Naraku. What I mean is, he lived a good life, had a good pack, and when he realized he was dying, he probably made a joke of it and turned it into a competition to see who could get to heaven first." Inuyasha finished. "What?" Everyone was staring at him.

"Is this a joke?" Sado asked. 

"How did you know my honorable father?" Sasuke demanded. 

Inuyasha scratched his face with a claw. "Oh, uh... we ran into each other occasionally. He liked Kagome." 

Inquisitive, Kai asked Sasuke, "Who is Kagome?"

Speaking slowly, Sasuke responded, "She was my father's mortal love interest. Mother, Lady Ayame, told us stories of how ugly she was."

"She was not ugly!" Inuyasha yelled. 

"Lord Sesshomaru, would you care to explain this?" Sasuke asked. 

"Perhaps, I could reveal a fact I recently discovered, and refer to a quote you said yourself, Lord Sasuke." Kai stated. "Sir Inuyasha wields the Tessaiga." 

It was quiet. No one moved, but Inuyasha, who looked around, confused. "The quote you plan to reference is the one about impossibilities and probabilities." Sado said. 

"Yes." Kai responded. 

"Sir Inuyasha, what priestess did you piss off so badly that she threw you forward in time?" Sado asked. 

"Uh." Inuyasha said. 

"Talk about purebred dogs." Sasuke said. "You like to keep it in the family." 

Inuyasha figured out that they had figured it out. He turned red. 

"Egyptian style." Kai said. "The ancient Egyptians believed no one was worthy enough, had enough divine blood to marry the pharaoh, except his sister. You cannot claim to be traditional now, bringing an African practice to Japan." Now that the cat was out of the bag, so to speak, they all piled on. 

"Now, I am sure it was a practice in Japan at some point, Lord Kai." Sasuke said. "Tell me more of my father, Sir Inuyasha." 

"No, tell us more of how you traveled through time." Sado demanded. 

Inuyasha looked toward Sesshomaru who looked like he had narrowly missed a lethal bullet. 

"Lord Sesshomaru, did you not think that we would believe you?" Kai asked. 

"No." He said simply. 

"You both must attend the funeral of my honorable father and mother." Sasuke said. "You both knew him. It will be a traditional Shinto ceremony in the northern mountains."

"Uh, I can't leave." Inuyasha said. 

"I will vote to make an exception." Sasuke said. 

By supper, the visiting daiyokai of the council had left, except for Sasuke. Inuyasha had regaled Sasuke with stories about Koga's youth for the remainder of the afternoon, and he had accepted Sesshomaru's invitation to stay for the meal. Before he had left, Sado had talked quietly with Sesshomaru. One part Inuyasha overheard was Sado complimenting Sesshomaru on needing to reconstruct a bedroom wall. 

Inuyasha looked at the chopsticks he held with distaste. Fish, vegetables, rice, and an empty miso soup bowl were in front of him. The soup had been easy. For the rest, he was required to use the thin, metal sticks. It was a form of torture, he decided.

There seemed to be a set seating chart for when they ate dinners so far. Sesshomaru sat at the head of the table and Inuyasha sat immediately to his right. Usually, Ichiro sat immediately to his left, then Yuki. But Sasuke's presence bumped everyone down a seat. But something was off. Not wanting to face figuring out how to use chopsticks, Inuyasha mulled over the pattern. 

"Why did Jirou take Yuki's spot?" He asked. 

"He has a higher rank." Sesshomaru said. 

"Why?" Inuyasha asked. "He's not older."

"No, but he works for the family company." Sesshomaru said.

"So, if Yuki worked for the company and because she's older, then she would have higher rank?" Asked Inuyasha.

"Well, no." Said Sesshomaru. "Jirou would have higher rank anyway because he is male."

"Keh. Sango wouldn't have stood for that." He said. "Males aren't better than females." Yuki smiled at him shyly. 

"Allowing Yuki to sit before Jirou would be an insult to him." Ichirou said. 

"Uh huh. So, are you insulted that Sasuke sits before you?" Inuyasha asked. 

"No. Lord Sasuke is of higher rank." He said.

"So you're saying Yuki is of lower rank only because she is female?" Inuyasha asked. 

"Yes." Said Sesshomaru. "This is how things are." 

"So, all of you agree that males are better than females?" Inuyasha asked, incredulously. 

Sasuke smiled at him like a grandfather would dote on a favorite grandchild. "No wonder you and my honored father fought. You are too like him." This was an extremely high compliment from an extremely worthy guest. Ichirou , who had begun to reply, closed his mouth so quickly it snapped shut with a click. "Who was this Sango?"

"She was a demon hunter." Inuyasha said. "She traveled with our group."

"A demon hunter traveling with a half-demon?" He asked.

"We also had a couple of full demons, Shippo and Kilala. And a monk, Miroku. They all knew Koga. Shippo, a fox yokai, pulled a couple pranks on Koga." Inuyasha smirked. "One time, he asked Koga to hold a small rock that he had enchanted. As soon as Koga touched it, he was forced to the ground. The small rock had become a huge boulder and as soon as he was down, Shippo slapped a prayer seal on it. You should have seen his face!" He laughed.

"I seem to remember Shippo did the exact same thing to you, Inuyasha." Sesshomaru said. 

Inuyasha stopped laughing. "Yeah, and then Sesshomaru showed up."

"What?" Jirou started to ask and then cleared his throat. "What were you doing there, father?"

"He was probably trying to steal the Tessaiga." Inuyasha said. "But I think he said something about there being no honor in taking something from the vulnerably weak, and turned around and left."

Sesshomaru smirked. "I wasn't going to steal the Tessaiga. I was going to fight you for it. You, obviously, would have lost, and so I would have won the sword, not stolen it."

The bit of rice Inuyasha had managed to get on the chopsticks fell off. "Yeah, right." 

Yuki spoke up. "I'm missing something. How did Inuyasha know Lord Koga?" 

Inuyasha pointed his chopsticks at her. "Don't think I forgot about you! It's bullshit you have to sit farther down." It sounded like Ichirou chocked on his bite of rice and vegetables.

"The Japanese society is still remarkably patriarchal," she said, "even in modern times women aren't supposed to have a job once they marry. I didn't want to fight it because it might embarrass my family, so I travel." 

"You were born to make waves." Inuyasha said. "Sango would have punched Kohaku in the face if he tried to sit before her." 

"Do not punch your younger brother in the face." Sesshomaru interjected. "Inuyasha, you will stop suggesting rather marshal actions."

"Marshal?" He asked.

"Fighting. You can't solve everything by punching someone in the face." Sesshomaru said.

"It's worked for me so far." Inuyasha replied. 

Sasuke let out a sigh of admiration. "Straight talk. I love it. Everyone in the south tend to mince words and dance around what they mean. Say what you mean and mean what you say, I say! And lawyers are the worst. No offence, of course."

"Of course." Sesshomaru said smoothly. 

Inuyasha thought he heard Jirou say in a low voice, "We're used to it." 

"Will no one answer my question?" Yuki asked. Ichirou glared at Inuyasha as if to blame him for being a bad influence. 

Inuyasha did his best to look innocent, but his eyes widened in surprise when he met Sesshomaru's look. "I'm not telling her. It was your idea." He said. 

Sesshomaru looked vaguely pained. He set his chopsticks down and steepled his hands in front of him. "It seems as though this will soon be common knowledge, so I have information to share with this family that will effect this family." He said in all seriousness. "Lord Sasuke can affirm what I am about to say, for you will all find it outlandish.

"Inuyasha is the hanyou son of Inu no Taicho. He was cursed, or blessed, to travel through time. During his last trip to the modern era, from the feudal era, he became stuck and could not return." Silence met this announcement as his children absorbed the news. 

"Well, Ichirou, you owe me 100,000 yen." Said Jirou. 

"How," Yuki asked, startlingly, "how did you get stuck?"

"I couldn't travel through the well anymore." Inuyasha said. "It stopped working." 

"It just stopped? There was no reason?" Yuki asked. 

Inuyasha didn't reply, but stabbed his chopsticks down so hard into the bowl, that the bowl broke in half and the chopsticks sank into the table so deeply, that they stood up by themselves. He glared at them. With them standing straight up, surrounded by spilled rice, it looked eerily similar to an offering of incense and food at a shrine. The broken bowl was also symbolic.

"Someone died." Sasuke said, his own grief giving him insight. Inuyasha jumped at his words, met his eyes, and then looked away and said nothing. 

"Ah," Jirou said, "it was the lady you mentioned in your trial, the one who was killed by rapists." Inuyasha sat as though he were made of stone. "That explains much."

After some silence, Sasuke spoke again. "I wish I could comfort you as you have comforted me about the loss of my honorable parents. Alas, I never met this former love of yours. But, please, accept my condolences." 

"Thank you, Lord Sasuke." Sesshomaru answered when Inuyasha was not forthcoming. 

"We must drink to our lost loved ones," Sasuke said, "and wish them well on their journey. Lord Sesshomaru, do you have any sake deserving of the experience?"

"Yes, Lord Sasuke." Sesshomaru said. A servant, who had been standing quietly by the door connecting the kitchen to the dining room, left to fetch it. When the table was cleared and everyone had clay sake bowls filled to the brim with the clear alcohol, Sesshomaru raised his bowl. "To the honorable Lord Koga, Lady Ayame, and Miko Kagome, all three of you have influenced our lives and left this world as a better place. May your journey to be with our ancestors in heaven be smooth and safe, and may you look down upon us favorably and grant us your blessings." They all drank, except Inuyasha, who held his numbly and stared at it. 

Sesshomaru sighed. "Miko Kagome, despite what your honorable mother may have said, Lord Sasuke, was a beauty." Sasuke nodded with a smile. "Even I noticed the mortal's radiance. She could purify the most tainted shards of the Shikon no Tama, simply by picking them up. Any other miko would have required years of rituals and praying to purify them. She could purify a demon, driving out evil influence by making a non-lethal shot with an arrow. She was excellent at archery. She even dared to shoot at me."

Ichirou's eyes became rounder at that news. "And she was a mortal? And you did not kill her?"

"No." Said Sesshomaru. "My brother would have fought me to the death to protect her." Inuyasha sat, still frozen. "Lord Koga did have a romantic interest in her." He continued. "In battle, if he thought she was in danger, he would run up to her, wrap his arms around her, and sweep her away. Inuyasha would go into such a rage. He would yell at Lord Koga until his face turned red and they both drew weapons. The ningen would stamp her foot and tell them both off, saying she didn't need either of them. She walked back into the battle while those two were still snarling at each other.

"It is with her help that we killed Naraku, the seething legion of lesser yokai that joined together in bid to rule all of Japan. Without her, he would have gained the power of the Shikon no Tama and would have been much harder to kill. Without her, the Shikon no Tama would still exist and be a temptation, a threat to our world." He said. "She was a force for good to be reckoned with." 

"Yeah." Inuyasha said, and drank the sake. 

And at the next family dinner, Yuki sat in front of Jirou, and nobody complained about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I felt Inuyasha hadn't moved on from Kagome's death and that this scene gave him closure. She's been acknowledged and honored. The people who are closest to him know about her and the huge role she played in his life, and, indirectly, their lives. The next challenge he faces is to learn how to use chopsticks. 
> 
> Also, Kai is sneaky, isn't she? I'm basing her somewhat off Black Widow from Captain America: Civil War in that she will seemingly change sides to suit herself, but, really, everything she does is to serve the greater good as she sees it. And she is a water yokai. Water can take any shape it wants to and still be true to itself. 
> 
> This chapter is 6700 words, guys. I was worried purpose would be lost in the dialogue, but didn't want to put anyone out of character in order to make it go faster. 
> 
> For those among my amazing readers who will comment that there is still no way Inuyasha will accept a domesticated life, he has a reason to play nice for now. Remember the problem Mrs. Higurashi has? That will be addressed in the next chapter. 
> 
> P.S. Anyone catch that Sesshomaru said he's looking forward to expanding his family with his new mate?


End file.
